Re-Imagining Healthcare with Dr. Michele Pickett and Ms. Shannon Stephenson

809 South Willow Street,Chattanooga TN 37404

20 September, 2022

Description

Every other month, Chattanooga Faith + Work + Culture (CFWC) will be hosting Lunch + Learn events for working professionals in the Chattanooga area to engage. Our 2022-23 Lunch + Learn theme is Re-Imagining Work. The last two years have caused us all to re-evaluate how we define meaningful work. CFWC desires to provide a space for earnest believers to wrestle with what meaningful work looks like in their context and how the gospel informs the decisions, actions, and mindset we bring to the office. In our second event we will explore what it means to Re-Imagine Healthcare with a gospel lens. We are honored to have Dr. Michele Pickett and Ms. Shannon Stephenson as panelists for this important discussion. Both women have held leadership roles in organizations that are on the front lines of healthcare for some of the most vulnerable populations in the city. They will share about how their faith informs the direction of the care they provide. We hope you will join in for this important event as we imagine together how our personal faith in Christ can shape the way we care for others. Shannon Stephenson, a Chattanooga native, received her Bachelor of Science in Finance from Tennessee Wesleyan University, followed by her MBA from Lincoln Memorial University. She is a Certified Public Accountant in Tennessee and has participated in numerous continuing education programs, including the Health Care Executive Program offered by the UCLA Anderson School of Management. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Shannon is currently working on her dissertation, which focuses on the financial impact of health policies on safety net providers. Shannon works tirelessly to offer vision and direction that moves the organization’s mission forward. Under her leadership as Chief Executive Officer at Cempa Community Care, the organization has expanded access to the medically underserved, enhanced operational efficiency, achieved numerous programmatic goals, and boosted contributions and sponsorships. With an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for the people who are impacted by the work that Cempa provides, she continues to make an impact by serving on local, regional, and national boards, educating around policies and procedures and providing mentorship and training opportunities that set staff members up for success. Shannon remains heavily focused on enhancing access to care, creating health equity, ensuring programmatic integrity, and continuously adapting to meet community needs better. During her time at Cempa, Shannon has led the organization to earn numerous awards and distinctive nominations, including recognition as the Chattanooga, Tenn., area’s 2019 Community Impact Award winner at the Champions of Health Care award ceremony hosted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. In 2020, Cempa was honored with the State of Tennessee Governor’s Award of Excellence for the organization’s efforts to deliver much-needed care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, Cempa Community Care was chosen as Non- Profit of the Year by the Chattanooga Chamber. As a well-respected healthcare executive locally, regionally, and nationally, Shannon has landed many speaking engagements, media coverage, and opportunities to testify at the state and federal levels. She has served as a speaker at nationally recognized conferences, participated in numerous roundtable discussions, and been featured as an expert in congressional hearings. Shannon was recognized as a Social Impact Hero by Authority Magazine in August 2020, was selected as one of Chatter Magazine’s 20 Under 40 in 2020, is a graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, Class of 2021, and was chosen as a participant for the 2022-2023 session of Leadership Tennessee. Nationally, Shannon serves as president of the board of directors for the Ryan White Clinics for 340B Access and has routinely been selected as a national HRSA Reviewer. Regionally, she serves as the chair of the government committee and a member of the healthcare committee for the Tennessee Society of CPAs, as well as a board member and policy committee member for the Tennessee Primary Care Association. Locally, Shannon is a board member and past president for the Association of Governmental Accountants, Chattanooga Chapter, and serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Minority Task Force, serving under the Regional Health Council. Shannon is also a member of the Chattanooga Downtown Rotary Club and the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Shannon was appointed to the Chattanooga/Hamilton County mayor’s Joint Task Force, where she served as the Community Testing Chair. Dr. Michele Pickett is the founding physician and Executive Director of LifeSpring Community Health located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. LifeSpring is a faith-based community health organization founded to address the health care needs of underserved and uninsured children. The clinic was established as an urban pediatric model which includes Community Health Workers who provide families with health education, who assess the impact of living environment on health issues, and offer care coordination and disease management to patients in the clinic, in their homes or in the community. Dr. Pickett first heard the call to be a “missionary doctor” at the age of 13 years old. Though it has not been a straight forward journey, God's love and grace have sustained and equipped her for this work. She is passionate to demonstrate the love of Christ to all the families served at LifeSpring. She was born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas until she was fifteen years old when her mother moved the family to Queens, New York City. She attended Barnard College in New York and Tufts Medical School in Boston. Michele returned to New York City following medical school to do her residency and fellowship at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Dr. Pickett also serves part-time on the faculty of the UT College of Medicine in Chattanooga as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. In this role, she coordinates the community advocacy rotation for the pediatric residency at the Children’s Hospital at Erlanger. Michele is married to James Pickett, retired and founding Pastor of New City Fellowship East lake in Chattanooga. She is the proud mom of two amazing young women, Noah and Elena who are both college students.