Financial Health is a Vital Sign

Join us for our next virtual Policy Consortium where we will continue exploring how financial hardship shapes the healthcare experience — and why treating financial health as a vital sign is essential to whole-person care.

What we’ll feature:

• Patient and caregiver perspectives on key concepts including financial health, financial hardship, social services, and the safety net
• Insights into how community health workers and needs navigators are already treating financial health as a core part of care — and what the broader healthcare system can learn from them
• Evidence-informed resources to help communities understand and address the financial barriers standing between patients and the care they need.

Registration is now live for our next Policy Consortium. Read on below to learn more about our featured speakers.

Patient Perspective

Becky Barnes

Becky Barnes is a Kentucky Certified Community Health Worker, rural patient advocate, and PhD student in Social Work at the University of Kentucky. Born and raised in Eastern Kentucky and based in Richmond, KY, she is the Founder and Executive Director of the Patient Voices Matter Foundation, a nonprofit advancing health equity in rural and underserved communities of Eastern Kentucky and Central Appalachia. With over 15 years of patient advocacy experience, Becky is dedicated to reducing healthcare disparities and addressing social determinants of health.

Roundtable Speakers

Sam Becknel

Sam Becknel, Jr. is a senior consultant and public administration professional with over three decades of experience advancing community health, equity, and policy across the U.S. As Founder and Senior Consultant of Atlanta-based Strategy Group LLC, he advises public agencies and nonprofits on strategic planning, volunteer engagement, policy development, and program evaluation. His career includes work with the CDC, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation projects, and the American Medical Association—managing multi-million-dollar grants and leading coalitions on chronic disease prevention, childhood obesity, and health disparities—as well as leadership roles with the YMCA of the USA, American Heart Association, and grassroots organizations. A published author and frequent national conference speaker, Sam holds a Master’s in Public Administration and Policy from Walden University and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Dillard University, and is a member of several professional and honor societies.

Erin Prendergast

Erin Prendergast, MPH, is Director of Federal Policy at the National Association of Community Health Centers, where she leads policy strategy and provides guidance on key federal issues impacting community health centers, including Medicaid, Medicare, and behavioral health. Drawing on her background in healthcare quality improvement and policy, Erin serves as a strategic advisor and advocate, helping health centers navigate complex public policy landscapes. She also develops policy resources and delivers training and technical assistance to support health centers in advancing their mission.

Prior to joining NACHC, Erin served as Senior Manager of Quality Improvement at the American Health Care Association and Manager of Health Policy & Regulatory Affairs at Faegre Drinker in Washington, D.C.

Outside of her professional work, Erin enjoys taking barre classes and is a watercolor painter, where she is a member of the Capitol Hill Arts League in Washington, D.C. She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from The College of New Jersey and a Master of Public Health from George Washington University.

Rebekah Angove

Drawing from her expertise in patient engagement, Dr. Angove is responsible for the design and management of Patient Advocate Foundation’s (PAF’s) comprehensive evaluation and patient experience program and serves as the Executive Director of Patient Insight Institute. In her role, she helps PAF to identify patient needs, translate those needs to direct services and policy recommendations, and evaluate the impact of these programs and services on patients and the patient community. Her work includes the development of a research infrastructure to deploy validated screening tools, quality measures and patient reported outcome measures.

About Policy Consortium

Policy Consortium brings together patients and communities who have been underrepresented in health reform discussions. This is where we hear about their lived experiences and learn from their perspectives on the issues that matter most to them.

Our goal is to transform healthcare policies and practices to be more responsive to the needs of patients and caregivers.

Policy Consortium is made possible with generous support from our sponsors: 

• Any opinions expressed by participants who are not affiliated with NPAF/PAF are solely the opinions of such participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of NPAF or PAF; and
• NPAF/PAF are not responsible for the accuracy of information shared by unaffiliated participants as part of Policy Consortium discussion