Dr. Veronica X. Vela Email & Phone Number

Silver Spring, Maryland, Us

Leads a public-private partnership to ensure access to care for 33,000 economically vulnerable, under- and uninsured adults and children without health insurance. Oversees linguistically appropriate and culturally competent primary care, specialty care, behavioral health, cancer care, pediatric care, and pharmacy service lines while addressing social determinants of health and offering patient navigation. Leads performance excellence, system transformation and health system innovation efforts. Spearheads collaborative efforts with partner organizations to design and integrate new service offerings and advocate for funding to strengthen financial sustainability of operations.

Washington, Dc, Us

▪ Revenue Growth/Fundraising: Developed proposal detailing approach for convening local food-system leaders on investment strategies to close gaps; secured funding to move forward with initiating collaboration; received invitation from funder to submit $7 million food system grant proposal.▪ Program Scope Expansion/Problem-solving: Taught fast-paced online course to Master in Health Promotion students, including how to conduct program evaluations; stepped up to support gaps in program requirements, supporting degree completion for students graduating in 2023.

Baltimore, Md, Us

Advises on organizational strategy and programmatic changes for Ward Infinity, a social innovation accelerator program focused on radically reducing health and healthcare disparities in Washington, D.C.

Baltimore, Md, Us

▪ System Redesign/Virtual Care Upgrade: Led discovery and systems redesign initiative with Unity Healthcare; discovered how vulnerable seniors experienced virtual care during pandemic; detailed gaps for D.C. Council; won $250k grant from D.C. government; improved telehealth access and equity in D.C.'s most underserved communities.▪ Innovation/Partnerships: Spearheaded development of Ward Infinity curriculum; combined public health issue framing, human-centered design, and business model design; created, tested, and documented replicable model for partnering with community leaders to develop innovations to radically improve health in communities. ▪ Community Health Investment: Designed and championed inaugural Community Pitch Competition, expanding opportunities for Ward Infinity Health Innovation Fellows to compete for funding; increased visibility by working among health, business leaders, and funders; highlighted innovative, meaningful model for investing in community health; led to positive media press for Johns Hopkins Medicine.▪ Outreach/Relationship Building: Nurtured and navigated relationships with 48+ complex stakeholders, ensuring Ward Infinity, a social innovation accelerator program, considered community and organizational needs; increased alum program engagement by 50%; reorganized program directly under Johns Hopkins University Community Affairs Department; uplifted visibility through regional and 12 press and speaking engagements. ▪ Advisory Council/Healthcare Visibility: Grew membership and cultivated relationships with Advisory Council leadership group representing government, foundation, healthcare, entrepreneurship, design, and innovation in media and communication sectors; augmented program advisors, expanded visibility to additional sectors and networks, and increased funding by 15%.

Washington, Dc, Us

Federally Qualified Health Center in Washington, D.C. known for serving offering culturally responsive and excellent care to Latino patients in Washington, D.C. and Maryland. Serve as chair of the Quality Committee and also support development efforts to advance health equity within our patient population.

St. Louis, Mo, Us

▪ Innovation/Partnerships: Solidified partnership with Community Impact team; increased departmental revenue by $1.2k and saved 5 jobs; created new profit center, positioned as Thought Leader and problem-solver; addressed Ascension's most pressing issues, reducing avoidable ED utilization, and addressing social determinants of health among Medicaid patients. ▪ Revenue Generation/Virtual Patient Care: Improved virtual care experience for patients and providers; achieved 92% satisfaction rating, generating $54.3 million in revenue in first year.▪ Strategic Leadership/Consensus Building: Acquired leadership and staff consensus on strategy and product roadmap for Ascension's homegrown telehealth software, VideoChat; eliminated team friction and increased weekly productivity by 75%.▪ Product/Services Enhancements: Created Virtual Care Champions group, comprised of administrative and clinical market leaders; served as sounding board for product enhancements; increased confidence in clinical and administrative leaders and Ascension telehealth products and services; reduced roll-out of ineffective features/errors by 90%.▪ Change Management/Alignment: Survived downsizing by establishing alignment between innovations and Ascension corporate strategy; secured jobs for 18 staff and budget of $8.2 million; improved virtual care experience.▪ Digital Health Access/Funding: Identified need to attune/configure digital health products and services to address needs of low-income populations with limited tech access; garnered buy-in and $180k in funding to develop training for 200+ staff members and contractors.▪ Staff Training/Innovation: Developed and implemented training, educating staff on barriers to digital health adoption among low-income patients; facilitated improvements across 5+ digital health product service lines valued at $40 million; increased access for vulnerable patients.

Washington, Dc, Us

Conducted studies to understand how healthcare providers and insurers can better serve people experiencing homelessness, underinsured women, and women veterans. Advised the school of public health how to integrate human-centered design into the masters of public health curriculum, which led to the creation of a multi-disciplinary course, SEAS 6800, Social Impact Design Thinking.

Mclean, Va, Us

Recommended changes to CMS policy to better support care delivery for seniors, severely ill patients, and uninsured consumers. Led experience design teams, managed client expectations and contracts. Supported business development efforts to expand Booz Allen's portfolio of design work in healthcare.

Washington, Dc, Us

Part of a cabinet level innovation team supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve how Veterans receive benefits and medical care. Co-led a national study to understand how Veterans experience VA care. Researched private healthcare systems to understand how they manage the patient experience. Led the design of 5 national interventions that were rolled out across VA's 1200+ facilities.

Germantown, Md, Us

Led corporate strategy development, managed portfolio of healthcare practice and products valued at $6M, and played a key role in business development. Designed new ways for governments, military and local hospitals to work together to respond to mass casualty disasters, such as terrorist attacks. Responsible for quality assurance and negotiated client, partner and vendor relationships and contracts.

Reston, Va, Us

Supported national health system transformation projects. Assisted the Department of Defense to merge medical functions on joint bases. Also helped the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid prepare for and implement new disease classification codes (ICD-10). Contributed to business development efforts as a capture and proposal manager for opportunities valued between $100K to $1B. Led capture of $19.3M.

Oakland, California, Us

Co-led a project to improve diabetes care for 150,000 members in Northern California. Managed a cross-functional team with clinical, care management, patient education and data analytics expertise. Over the course of 1 year, we outpaced clinical quality goals by 10%.

My father started a non-profit to increase the number of Latinos entering the STEM fields. His program inspired hundreds of kids across the country to pursue science and engineering. I grew up helping him on weekends. Eventually I participated in his program during high school, served as a instructor while in college, and later helped run the program for a summer while serving as the Interim Executive Director.

New York, Ny, Us

Increased number of students passing standardized math test scores by 20%. Started first interscholastic sports team in over 30 years (track team). Secured funding through grants to expose my students to learning opportunities outside the classroom. Went to shows on Broadway, visited museums & toured nature parks. Brought role models into the classroom to encourage & inspire students.

Doctor Of Public Health, Health Policy

Coursework In Design, Social Ventures And Business Innovation

Masters Of Engineering, Industrial Engineering And Operations Research

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Industrial & Systems Engineering