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OUR MISSION

Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation eliminates barriers and enhances the capabilities of Contra Costa Health Services and the community to improve the safety, health and wellness of every Contra Costa County resident

Patient and Nurse

OUR HISTORY

The Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation was established in 2003 to increase community awareness of the work performed by Contra Costa Regional Medical Center & Health Centers, which is part of Contra Costa Health Services, the county-operated health system.

 

The hospital and its 10 health centers have become an acclaimed model for integrated healthcare delivery, and our 140,000-member health plan was the first publicly supported, federally qualified HMO in the United States. Our university-affiliated residency program attracts graduate medical students from all over the nation, and our system is also Contra Costa's sole provider of 24-hour psychiatric emergency services.

 

As an independent nonprofit, the Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation channels funds from our community to support diverse and critically needed programs within Contra Costa Health Services. The Foundation is the major fund-raising vehicle to support the public health system and its partners in Contra Costa County. Please join us in our efforts to promote and enhance health in Contra Costa County.

the team

OUR TEAM

Our Board of Directors and staff are a dedicated team of individuals who are committed to the safety, health and well-being of the residents of Contra Costa County. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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BETTE FELTON, DrPH, RN

CCRHF Board Chair  |  Professor Emerita

Bette is a Principal Investigator for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University East Bay's Concord campus, which provides lifelong learning to adults over 50. She taught nursing and health science and was previously the Dean at the Concord campus. Her scholarship focused on health care workforce preparation. She is also the vineyard manager at Sky Terrace Vineyards.

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RHONDA SMITH, MPA, MAED, MAOL

CCRHF Board VP of Programs  |  Volunteer Program Coordinator

Rhonda has served as the Volunteer Program Coordinator for CCHS since 2011. She manages the countywide volunteer program for CCRMC and 9 health clinics which have over 300 volunteers. She also serves as the Administrative Manager for the Art of Health and Healing Program. She is a very proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

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BEN-DAVID BARR, PhD, MSW

CCRHF Board Secretary | Community Member

Ben's information is coming soon...

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CHRISTOPHER FARNITANO, MD

CCRHF Board Treasurer  |  County Health Officer - Retired

Graduate of both Duke University and Duke Medical School and is a board-certified family physician and HIV specialist. He completed his family medicine residency at Merrithew Memorial Hospital (now Contra Costa Regional Medical Center) in 1994 and has been on the medical staff of Contra Costa Health Services ever since. His career has included extensive experience in hospital care, obstetrics, emergency medicine and outpatient care. In 1997 he helped start and staff the first HIV medicine clinic at the Pittsburg Health Center, now known as the Positive Health Clinic. He has held several leadership roles with Contra Costa Health Services, including Assistant Residency Program Director, Family Medicine Department Chair, Ambulatory Care Medical Director, and Director of Process Redesign and System Integration. Dr. Farnitano has trained in LEAN techniques and has led redesign efforts to embed LEAN principles into daily operations for better access, quality and reliability of care. Since 2018 Dr. Farnitano has served as the County Health Officer for Contra Costa County while maintaining a family medicine and HIV medicine practice at the Pittsburg and Brentwood Health Centers.

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GEORGE AQUINO, MBA

Community Member

George is a registered Mechanical Engineer with a Masters Degree in Business Administration with over 40 years career in domestic and international operations. He has held various management positions at Asian Appraisal Group, MEJA Management Group, World Color Press, and JP Morgan Chase among others. He has owned and operated Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly and an Adult Residential Facility for persons with developmental disabilites prior to his retirement. He is a licensed financial professional and a notary public. He currently volunteers at various institutions.​

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ELIZABETH CAVANAGH, MBA

Community Member

Elizabeth is an experienced marketing change agent who has worked with several hi-tech companies to launch innovative new products and bring large-scale initiatives to market. She helps clients envision a greater future and creates a path for them to get there in a way that optimizes the customer experience, aligns the company’s marketing tactics with their strategy and their messaging, and smoothly introduces new technology. More recently she has also been pursuing her passion for real estate investing.

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NAPOLEON DARGAN, Psy.D.

Community Member

Dr. Q., Napoleon Dargan, is a dynamic blend of book smarts and real-world wisdom. With a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, an M.S. in Clinical Psychology, a B.S. in Psychology, and an A.A. in Business Administration, he possesses a strong academic foundation. However, his knowledge goes far beyond textbooks. For over a decade, Dr. Q has served as the Director of his groundbreaking program, "Quality Over Quantity," he's a visionary leader in promoting integrated, culturally competent healthcare through the arts. His journey started with his dissertation, which laid the foundation for securing initial funding from the Regional Health Foundation. Today, he proudly serves as the newest board member.

 

Dr. Q's rich career background includes time spent working behind prison walls, advocating for the well-being of our youth. He's been a guiding light for children entangled in the complexities of the court system and a caring presence for the elderly. He's worked with diverse populations, including those affected by HIV/AIDS and hypertension, developing a catalog of evidence-based, culturally competent approaches that harness the power of the arts to identify and overcome common behavioral health concerns.

 

Rooted in his upbringing in Pittsburg's El Pueblo housing projects, Dr. Q intimately understands the challenges faced by underserved communities, particularly the issues of cultural mistrust. He's committed to closing the disparities gap, whether in healthcare, education, or society at large. Dr. Q is a transformative force, driven by his belief in the power of the arts , health, education, community, and art to shape a brighter, more equitable future.

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MICHAEL B. JAMESON

Community Member

Mike Jameson is an Oakland native and currently lives in San Francisco with his wife, Hillary Hayden. He is very proud of his children, Ryan and Anna, who are 30 and 28, respectively. He graduated from Oakland High School, the University of California at Davis with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and the Haas School of Business (U.C. Berkeley) with a Master of Business Administration focused on real estate and finance. Mike has approximately thirty-three years of commercial real estate experience and recently left his role as a Managing Director in charge of West Coast commercial mortgage originations with Nuveen Real Estate, a TIAA company. During his almost four years with Nuveen, Mike and his team completed approximately $4 billion in real estate finance transactions. Prior to his time in this role, he worked for PGIM, the asset management arm of Prudential Financial, and for the Shorenstein family. Throughout his career, Mike has been involved in finance, property sale, mergers and acquisition and investment management transactions totaling approximately $15 billion.

In addition to his family and career interests, Mike has been very active in various community and non-profit activities. He acted as Chairman of the San Francisco District Council of the Urban Land Institute, a 2000+ member real estate organization, and was a significant fundraising contributor to the Foundation for Autistic Childhood Education and Support (FACES, now a part of the Pacific Autism Center for Education).

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SUSUN KIM

Community Member

Susun Kim, Executive Director of the Contra Costa Family Justice Center since March of 2014, is a family law attorney with extensive litigation experience in domestic violence matters. Previously, she was the Managing Attorney of Bay Area Legal Aid’s Contra Costa/Marin/Napa Regional Office for 10 years. Susun is a 1991 graduate of New York University School of Law.   

Susun enjoys creating new projects and participating in collaborative initiatives. She is the current co-chair of the steering committee for the Contra Costa Alliance to End Abuse. She helped develop a countywide violence prevention strategic plan and is working to implement it. She initiated and brought resources for public-private partnerships to address elder abuse, created a pilot Restorative Justice Project, started the domestic violence and human trafficking Multidisciplinary Teams, and developed a Housing First model for domestic violence survivors.  She is also the creator of the Family Justice Institute, which provides free community training on topics related to interpersonal violence throughout the year. 

Susun has extensive training and facilitation experience and previously served as faculty for national training institutes hosted by the American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence. She is the 2020 Assembly District 14 Woman of the Year and 2021 Senate District 7 Woman of the Year. 

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SARAH McNEIL

Medical Staff President, CCRMC and Health Centers

Sarah grew up on the east coast, but came to Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC) for her Family Medicine residency, because the training program is known to be one of the best in the country. She was fortunate to be offered a job at CCRMC following her residency in July of 2012, and has worked as faculty for over a decade.

 

In July of 2023, Sarah was named the President of the CCRMC Medical Staff, and she is honored to serve in this role and on the CCRHF Board.

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ANNA ROTH, RN, MS, MPH

Director of Health Services

Anna Roth has spent her entire career working to ensure vulnerable populations have access to critical resources like healthcare, food and housing. As the Director of Contra Costa County Health Services (CCHS), she leads efforts that care for the health of all of Contra Costa County's nearly one million residents with special attention to those that are most vulnerable.CCHS is the largest department of county government in Contra Costa, with more than 4,400 employees and an annual budget of $1.8 billion. CCHS includes primary, specialty and inpatient medical care, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, public health programs, environmental health protection, hazardous materials response and inspection and emergency medical services, as well as a county operated health maintenance organization, the Contra Costa Health Plan.Prior to the role of Director, Roth served as Chief Executive Officer of Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and Health Centers for nine years and holds a master's degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and a Master in Public Health from Harvard University. She is a registered nurse with more than 30 years of healthcare experience and is an Institute for Healthcare Improvement Quality Improvement Fellow.Roth is a renowned leader in system redesign and innovation and a strong advocate for the inclusion of patients, families and the community as full partners in the delivery of health services.

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KENT SACK, MD 

Retired Physician

Retired community primary care physician with special skills in HIV medicine. Emeritus Fellow – American Academy of Family Medicine and American Academy of Pediatrics; charter member of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. Volunteer physician - Concord Rotocare Free and the Berkeley Free Clinics. Anesthesiologist, director - mobile field hospital and medical civilian aid project – 1st Marine Division, Viet Nam. Director of emergency services and the amputee medical service – US Naval Hospital, Philadelphia. Director of in-patient pediatrics and infectious disease services – Contra Costa Regional Medical Center. Supply officer – Viet Nam orphan airlift. Volunteer medical director – Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic. Emergency medicine – Eden Hospital. Senior physician – HIV clinic, San Francisco Health Dept's Health Center #1. CA State AIDS Commission. Clinical instructor – FNP programs at Stanford, Sonoma State and UC Davis. Director, current and past - 9 non-profit health and social justice Boards.

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WILLIAM WALKER, MD

 Director of Legislative and Government Relations

William B. Walker, M.D., is the Director of Legislative and Governmental Relations for Contra Costa Health Services (CCHS), a comprehensive public health system in the San Francisco Bay Area with a 166-bed hospital (Contra Costa Regional Medical Center), 11 community health centers, 4,200 employees and a $1.6 billion annual budget. He has served with CCHS for 40 years, beginning as a staff physician in 1974, as the local Health Officer from 1983-2018, and as the Director of the Department from 1995-2018. Under Dr. Walker's leadership, CCHS has been widely recognized for developing an integrated health system that is at the forefront of implementing health reform. The system includes the divisions of Hospital and Health Centers, Contra Costa Health Plan, Behavioral Health, Public Health, Environmental Health, Hazardous Materials and Emergency Medical Services. Dr. Walker has also nurtured the Family Medicine Residency Program at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center to make it one of the most popular and well-regarded programs in the nation. Dr. Walker is passionate about addressing disparities in health and health care and has championed many community efforts to address these issues. He received his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1971, is board-certified in Family Medicine, and maintained a family medical practice even as CCHS Director. Dr. Walker also is the past chair of the Association of Bay Area Health Officials, is a member and former chair of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, past chair of the California Healthcare Safety Net Institute, and past chair of the board of directors of America's Essential Hospitals (formerly the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems).

FOUNDATION STAFF

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LESLIE GRGURINA

Acting Executive Director

Leslie joined our staff at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and brings many years of marketing, communication and non-profit experience to our staff. She is a Bay Area native who grew up working in her family's business, and spent the majority of her career working as a Marketing Director and Consultant. Prior to joining the Foundation, she volunteered and worked 12 years in non-profit for public education. 

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DUFFY NEWMAN

Director of Strategy and Partnerships

Twenty-five years experience in the field of health and health care delivery. Extensive experience in leadership and organizational development, strategic planning, relationship and partnership management, change management, executive and team coaching, and the design and implementation of complex initiatives. Program and curriculum development include, innovation, scale and spread, transformational leadership, change management, patient safety, performance improvement, health equity, community engagement, and population health.

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