The HealthCare Connection to Hold 55th Anniversary Gala on Dec. 3 in Sharonville

Founder and former CEO Dolores Lindsay to be honored

By Terri Hornbach-Torres

THT Communications

Friends, supporters, elected officials, business leaders and community members will honor “the godmother of community health centers,” Dolores J. Lindsay, at the organization’s 55^th Anniversary Gala, to be held at 6 p.m., Dec. 3, at the Sharonville Convention Center. Lindsay is the founder and former CEO of The HealthCare Connection.

Karen Bankston, Ph.D., M.S.N., FACHE, FAAN, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Bankston is a professor emerita, retired hospital executive and social justice advocate. Michelle Hopkins, host of Cincy Lifestyle on WCPO TV and communications strategist, will be the emcee. Jolene Joseph, D.B.H., LCSW, LISW-S, CHCEF, current CEO of The HealthCare Connection, will also speak.

The event theme – Moving Our Mission Forward – highlights The HealthCare Connection’s commitment to continue finding ways to provide quality healthcare services for underserved communities.

Tickets for the Gala are $100. For reservations, visit https://healthcare-connection.org/events/. Or mail a check payable to The HealthCare Connection and in the “memo,” write “55^th Anniversary Gala” and mail to 1401 Steffen Ave., Cincinnati OH 45215.

About Dolores J. Lindsay and The HealthCare Connection

Lindsay was the longest-serving community health center CEO in the country until her retirement in October 2020, and is considered by many to be “the godmother of community health centers” in the U.S. She founded The HealthCare Connection in 1967, when it became the first federally funded community health center in Ohio, serving patients in a four-room apartment in Lincoln Heights with a group of volunteer physicians, nurses and staff.

The drive to provide quality healthcare in Lincoln Heights began when funding opportunities became available under President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty, and with the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 that established the use of community health centers. With these developments, a group of Lincoln Heights residents joined together to identify health needs in their own community. As a young mother, Lindsay was recruited by her daughter’s school PTA to get involved in the endeavor.

Today, The HealthCare Connection provides care to more than 18,000 patients annually at neighborhood health centers in Lincoln Heights, Mt. Healthy and Forest Park; school-based health centers within Princeton City and Mt. Healthy City School Districts; school-linked services in Lockland School District; and two co-located behavioral health centers.

The HealthCare Connection serves as a primary care safety net by providing quality, culturally sensitive and accessible primary healthcare services to the medically underserved, underinsured and uninsured in northern Hamilton County and surrounding areas. It has operated for 55 years without interruption, despite numerous funding and regulatory challenges.

“The HealthCare Connection was my life and my mission for more than 50 years,” said Lindsay upon her retirement. “I am proud of what we accomplished in bringing much-needed healthcare services to people who otherwise lacked access to quality medical care. I was pleased to leave the organization in good hands, with leadership and staff who remain committed to the belief that everyone deserves quality healthcare.”

In 2020, Lindsay was presented with the first Clifton A. Cole Legacy Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) for her role in the organization’s development and her success as the country’s longest-serving health center director. Lindsay also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NACHC in 2017. Among her many other awards and recognitions, she received The Inspire | 2019 Healthcare Champion Award presented by The Health Collaborative in Cincinnati.

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