Nancy West honored as Health Care Hero

When Nancy West arrived as the director and first paid staff member of Siloam Family Health Center in 1998, the clinic, which was founded in 1991 to serve people without health insurance, had a huge heart but little structure, space or funds. West said “Siloam was a story waiting to be told and I knew I had to tell it.”  With West at the helm, Siloam, a faith-based, volunteer-supported ministry, was set to have a

substantial impact on the Nashville health care community. Under her leadership, Siloam Family Health Center has grown from a part-time neighborhood health clinic into a full-scale health center now providing care 45 hours per week including evenings and Saturday mornings.  The clinic has grown from one part-time staffer to 26, from 40 volunteers to 450, from 3 participating church congregations to more than 70, and from 1,000 square feet of renovated apartment space to a new 12,000 square foot (debt-free) facility. With West as President and CEO, Siloam now completes more than 18,000 patient encounters each year. While facing the hottest issues confronting our nation ??? immigration, health care access for the uninsured and the rising cost of health care ??? West continues to work on behalf of those who fall through the cracks in the system.  She has formed relationships with area hospitals, diagnostic service providers, and volunteer specialists to make sure Siloam patients have access to high-quality specialty care as well as primary and preventive care.  West’s voice and passion have been instrumental in forming Siloam’s model of whole-person care (meeting physical, emotional and spiritual needs), a model that puts the nonprofit on the cutting edge of the industry.  She has also led the effort to raise the $2 million a year necessary to provide this type of care, including a successful $4.5 million capital campaign.  In just the last few years, Siloam, under the direction of West, has been recognized by being named a 2008 Bank of America Neighborhood Builder, being co-winner of Baptist Healing Trust Healing Charity Award, and receiving one of five national American Psychiatric Foundation Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health. West is a founding member of Nashville’s Consortium of Safety Net Providers and is a board member of the national organization Christian Community Health Fellowship.