This month, our operations center is celebrating two years since its opening in June 2019.

The operations center was a cooperative effort from the very beginning: it was established through a grant from the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics, which was made possible through funding from Sentara Healthcare and Optima Health, to support infrastructure needs as we prepared to participate in Medicaid.

Metropolitan Health Foundation provided funding for our telephone system, and the Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Fund provided initial funding to support two staff positions. More recently, Bank of America Foundation provided funding to support the creation of an additional position to meet some of the needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic called upon our operations center team to serve in new ways. Their call volume increased from 500 or 600 calls a week to 1,500 or 1,600 calls a week. They also played a crucial role in scheduling COVID-19 tests and vaccines, as well as talking to patients and community members about these programs. As of mid-June, CrossOver has completed 2,572 tests, and 1,580 of our patients have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The operations center has been instrumental in making all of this happen.

In order to meet these needs, we have increased our call center staff from three to four people. When Poliana Costa, our former patient access coordinator, was promoted to medical clinic manager, Sonia Hemphill was promoted to serve as our new patient access coordinator. Her team now includes patient access representatives Ivonne Felix, Elide Maria Islas, and Gina Salinas. We are so proud of this amazing team for taking CrossOver patient care to the next level!

Left to right: Gina Salinas, Sonia Hemphill, Yvonne Felix, Elide Maria Islas