Community Outreach

As director of the Maricopa Integrated Health System’s Refugee Women’s Health Clinic, Dr. Crista Johnson is passionate about her work, striving to make her patients feel at home. This is especially critical, as many of Johnson’s patients are suffering from the effects of traumatic experiences in their home countries, while attempting to adjust to their new lives in an entirely different culture. Johnson and her staff work daily with women refugees from nearly 20 countries, providing culturally sensitive, comprehensive health services. Part of Johnson’s work includes prenatal care for healthy births, delivery and postpartum care, preventive health services, gynecological care, maternal and child health issues, management of infertility and menopause, and health nutrition and exercise. An obstetrician/gynecologist, Johnson has been working at Maricopa Medical Center since 2008. In that time, she has had a tremendous impact on the community as a whole. For more than 13 years, she has focused on women’s health research for underserved populations. The Refugee Women’s Health Clinic, which began in 2008, has treated more than 300 refugee women, and is the only such program West of the Mississippi River. Johnson supervises a staff of eight, some of whom are from foreign countries themselves and are keenly aware of important cultural differences and sensitivities. The staff assists Johnson with numerous outreach projects in the community, such as the fostering of partnerships with refugee agencies, holding special health care events, and developing intervention strategies that include cultural competency training for medical professionals, patient education, continuity of care, and referrals for mental health care for survivors of war and trauma. While the majority of her work takes place here in the Valley, Johnson also has traveled the globe, lending her expertise to those in need. She participated in a 2006 medical mission to Kenya, a 2003 surgical mission to Guatemala, and in July 2003 she organized and conducted an extensive women’s health seminar in Alexandria, Va.
www.mihs.org

In a word, Lucy Ranus is unstoppable. She works from her heart and fully pours herself into every project she undertakes. Ranus has coordinated the Barrow Neurological Institute’s Community Education, Outreach and Prevention programs at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center since 1995. In that time, she has significantly expanded the number and variety of programs offered, including efforts that focus on helmet use during recreational activities such as biking, rollerblading and skateboarding; wearing a seat belt while riding in a car; water safety; stroke prevention; and injury prevention. One of her duties is designing, implementing and evaluating multifaceted injury-prevention programs in schools and communities. Before Ranus took the lead as program coordinator, Barrow and St. Joseph’s representatives usually made a handful of presentations to schools each year. Ranus now leads a team that makes more than 150 presentations annually to students, educators, community groups, parents and first responders. She and her team also participate in numerous community health fairs and events. Ranus began her health care career as a nurse in 1988, and has worked in all areas of St. Joseph’s Hospital, from the trauma department to the intensive care unit. Her perspective as a nurse and an educator compels her to improve the health, knowledge and well being of people in the community. She is driven by her belief that everyone, particularly underserved populations, should be provided with the tools to develop healthy living skills. As a result, she strives to create and implement effective education and training programs. Indeed, she has taken Barrow’s injury prevention programs to a whole new and exciting level. What’s more, she attracts equally talented and dedicated team members and volunteers to support her endeavors. Because of Ranus’ efforts, Barrow’s Helmet Your Head program received the Arizona Public Health Association’s Health Education Media Makers First Place Award for 2005-2006. In 2006, Ranus received personal recognition from the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.
www.thebarrow.org