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Encore Fellow Profiles

Beth Dameron

Encore Physicians Program – Northern California

“It’s really gratifying to put my skills to work, knowing that we make positive contributions to underserved communities.” – Beth Dameron
In her 35+ year career, ending up as Consulting Practice leader at Kaiser Permanente, Beth oversaw many performance improvement initiatives. She has an analytic and financial background, with a MS in Health Policy and Planning.  When she retired in 2017, she gradually adapted to a new lifestyle, with a mix of volunteer work, some travel, and spending time going to museums, lectures, concerts and plays. Then came the pandemic, which put a stop to all of the in-person activities that she enjoyed.
She needed to find something that she could do virtually and searched for avenues to keep herself engaged during the lockdown. Eventually, she applied to the Encore Fellowships program and was very excited when she interviewed for the Encore Physicians Program opportunity.
The Encore Physicians Program (EPP) matches retired physicians with Community Health Centers (CHCs) in paid, part-time clinical positions. The program was originally planned and launched in 2018-19. When she joined the team in April 2022, there was a need to develop a plan for how the program might expand over the next 3-5 years. To do this, they reviewed a set of potential growth areas, looked at geographic and demographic data, the upward trend of retiring physicians, and the locations of CHCs and underserved patients across Northern California. The analysis led to the program’s expansion into new geographic areas in 2023; its reach now encompasses the counties of the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento area and Santa Cruz.
In addition to being able to draw on her professional experience, in this role she’s enjoyed learning about the health care safety net, its funding mechanisms, and the related organizations that support and advocate for underserved patients.
The EPP’s previous external evaluations showed that both the physicians and the CHCs appreciate the program and its unique focus on retired physicians. They also highlight the key role of the two EPP Physician Leaders, who screen and match the applicants with a CHC. In 2024, they initiated a new set of surveys and their clients continue to report strong support for the program. They ask physicians to commit to at least one year in their CHC role and most of them stay and work beyond that.
EPP has placed more than 55 physicians to date. They like to talk about the positive impact it has for health centers and their patients by increasing access and expanding the types of specialties that are offered. The EPP physicians become productive team members in their health centers relatively quickly, due to their experience and familiarity with delivering care. The physicians report that they enjoy being a part of the team, appreciate the CHC staff and colleagues, the focus on patient care, and the opportunities for mentoring.
Through her Encore fellowship, Beth was able to continue to work to improve the health care system. While her career skills translated to what she does now, she has also learned new ways to add value, including how to be effective in a small start-up organization, utilize remote work techniques, and support the tasks that are associated with a grant-funded organization.
Beth’s initial Encore fellowship was extended and eventually lasted for two years. Now she contracts with CoGenerate and continues to work as a member of the EPP team. With the receding COVID pandemic, they have been able to place more physicians and, during last two years, the program’s growth has been very exciting. They are now looking again to see where and how the EPP can continue to expand over the next 3-5 years, and they also plan to move from the CoGenerate organization to a new home. The mission won’t change, but they will seek support to make organizational enhancements and ensure the EPP continues to serve retired physicians, CHCs and their patients.
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