Written by: Veenu Aulakh

Veenu Aulakh

​We are in the midst of many exciting changes in health care today. As more people enter the health care system, there will be a higher demand for care and greater competition. Payment models are shifting to focus on value, requiring providers to operate in a new way. The Center for Care Innovations (CCI) believes that innovation will help safety net clinics to thrive in this new environment. The changes in health care require providers to adapt current approaches, take risks, and act quickly to implement innovations that have proven effective in other settings. CCI offers a wide range of programs and resources for safety net systems to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to advance.

As the new Executive Director for CCI, I am honored to lead our talented, creative and dedicated team to support our safety net partners in transforming their systems of care. I am no stranger to CCI as I have been a critical part of the team over the last two years and have worked with many of our partners in community health centers, public hospitals and Medi-cal plans over the last 10+ years to support improvements in health care in California. At CCI, we know the questions facing health care today can be answered when the right people, the right information and the right resources come together. I am excited to lead CCI as we continue to assemble these critical pieces that will accelerate innovation and transformation in the safety net.

CCI strives to remain relevant to the needs of the safety net by listening closely to our partners, tracking the trends in the changing health care environment and evolving our internal focus and capacities as an organization. CCI has undergone many changes since its inception in 1999 and continues to do so today. You will be seeing some new faces on our team, all of whom are extremely dedicated to our mission to support the transformation of the safety net. We are also making changes to the CCI Voice to be more receptive to what the community needs given all the rich and competing resources available today. We will incorporate the key features from the Voice such as the “innovation of the month,” the expert discussions and the online news service into CCI’s current website.

CCI continues to be a vital source of ideas, best practices and funding for the health care safety net. We are committed to collaborating with all of our partners to take on – and solve – California’s toughest challenges to improve care for the underserved.