IEHP's 2024 Mission Conference inspires health care community to answer the call to collective compassion

Over 200 attended the fourth annual event, which invites health care providers, organizations and community leaders out for a day of networking and learning. Each year, the conference theme revolves around IEHP's mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, and the work it takes to ensure all communities within the region—and beyond—enjoy optimal care. This year's theme: A Call to Collective Compassion.

"Compassion heals, inspires and strengthens not just ourselves, but our entire community and all of those around us," said Jarrod McNaughton, IEHP's chief executive officer. "We hope when you leave the conference you will be inspired to look for creative ways to cultivate compassion and enhance the well-being of those you serve right here in the Inland Empire."

In addition to McNaughton's remarks, the conference welcomed three guest speakers who shared their experience with compassion in their respective areas of expertise:

• Adimika Arthur, CEO and executive director of HealthTech for Medicaid (HT4), a group founded by more than 40 HealthTech CEOs dedicated to discovering innovative solutions that solve real problems faced by Medicaid patients.
• Dr. Leslie Cotter, psychiatrist and co-founder of Young Women Empowered, a Seattle-based nonprofit with the mission to cultivate the power of young women through transformative programming.
• Dr. Ira Byock, a longtime palliative care physician and founder of the Institute of Human Caring, who spoke on the importance of finding moments of compassion through the end of life.

"I want to talk about what I've learned not merely as a clinician, but as somebody who is doing my best to live fully during this precious, mortal life," said Byock. "Illness and dying are hard. They're gritty. They're difficult. They're unwanted. But in addition to being hard and unwanted, there are hurdles of wisdom and meaning and value within these inherently human and inevitable experiences."

To complete the day's celebration, IEHP leaders announced the 2024 Living the Mission Award winners, presenting four honors to health plan providers and partners who exemplify the health plan's mission, vision and values through their work and passion for change.

Awardees were selected from a pool of internal and external nominations and included:

• Inspire Award: Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy, a nonprofit dedicated to creating pathways to higher education and career success for at-risk youth in the Inland Empire.
• Vibrant Health Award: Neighborhood Healthcare, a group of physicians working to connect the community to quality health care services in their own backyard.
• Creativity & Innovation Award: Healthcare in Action, a mobile health clinic serving the unhoused population across the state in cities like San Bernardino and Riverside.
• Optimal Care Award: Dr. Romeo Jamil Samouh, an Upland-based IEHP provider who works to educate patients on the importance of comprehensive health care in a safe, compassionate environment.

For additional highlights of the 2024 Mission Conference, visit missionconference.iehp.org or follow IEHP on social media.

About IEHP

With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans, the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid public health plan in the country, and for the third year in a row, certified as A Great Place To Work®. Founded in 1996, IEHP supports more than 1.5 million Riverside and San Bernardino County residents enrolled in Medicaid or IEHP DualChoice (those with both Medi-Cal and Medicare). As of 2024, IEHP also offers Covered California plans, further ensuring health care access for even more IE residents. Today, IEHP has a robust network of quality doctors throughout our two counties and nearly 4,000 team members who are fully committed to the vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. To learn more, go to iehp.org.

SOURCE Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP)