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accessHealthNews.net
December 2021
Volume 8 | Issue No. 52
This article was originally published in April 2021.
B
orn and raised in North Omaha, Neb., Carla
Gibson was immersed in a Black community
that demonstrated strength and resilience.
One of six siblings, her mother worked the night
shift full time at a local hospital for 33 years. The
working-class neighborhood exuded a fierce
work ethic – one that she, too, would assume.
"We lived, worked, worshiped and supported
businesses in this community," said Gibson, vice
president of programs at REACH Healthcare
Foundation. "I saw resilience all around me.
From my family to my neighbors, it was just
about making it."
Gibson said even with the positive role models
that surrounded her, she still witnessed health
and economic disparities in her community
and wanted to be a part of the solution. The
first college graduate in her family, Gibson
knew there was no room for failure. She had to
get a degree she could use.
Initially, Gibson sought a degree in marketing
and realized the for-profit sector was not
the path she wanted. After three years in,
she segued into sociology – a degree she
knew would help her better understand the
community she'd one day serve.
Gibson had a full-time job while taking a full
course load at the University of Nebraska at
Omaha. For three years, she was a bank teller
and worked in the bank's business strategy
and mortgage departments. She considered
remaining in banking after graduation, a
bittersweet time in her life as Gibson's father
passed away due to complications from
diabetes.
"I was seeing and living the disparities
that existed in the system of health care –
particularly in the Black community," she said.
Gibson, wanting to be a part of the solution,
landed a job as a breast and cervical cancer
outreach coordinator at a federally qualified
health center (FQHC) in her neighborhood.
"That was my first job in health care doing
community engagement," she said. "I worked
with a lot of Black churches helping to get
women screened and into care for breast and
cervical cancer."
She spent five years there progressing to
various positions at the FQHC before coming
to Kansas City, Mo., where she worked for
the Missouri Department of Health and Senior
Services. There, she worked in the Northwest
district of Missouri helping both urban and
rural communities conduct and understand
community needs assessments.
"I did miss the community part," she said. "I
was working at the state level and I really
missed being in my community working at the
grassroots level."
Eventually, Gibson landed a position at Swope
Health as a Ryan White case manager working
with a high acuity caseload of HIV+, homeless
and/or mentally ill largely Black patients. She
later moved to what was then called the
Kansas City Free Health Clinic (known today as
KC Care Health Center), another FQHC.
"What's missing are rural
white leaders. I'd really
like to see them standing
shoulder to shoulder with
us trying to address racial
equity as well."
