Vicki Soulé, Treasure Coast Community Health (TCCH) CEO, has been a leading health care advocate in Indian River County for 20 years. She began her career as a Medical Technologist, B.S., ASCP, and is in her 13th year at TCCH.
As CEO, Soulé oversees eight clinical locations and best medical practices to serve people of all ages and socioeconomic groups. She is a well know defender of affordable, accessible, and comprehensive health care for all. In fact, Soulé’s influence in the health care industry stretches beyond Indian River County to state and national levels as the voluntary Chair of the Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC) Board of Directors.
FACHC is a nonprofit, 45 member driven association of community health centers (CHCs) in Florida. FACHC’s main function is to educate, not lobby, legislature on the impact of bills and rules they are considering that affect CHCs. Each state then has representation and advocacy through the National Association of Community Health Centers.
A main benefit of FACHC is, “CHCs don’t have to constantly reinvent the wheel. We can share good ideas, best practices, things that aren’t going well, and most especially we can come together with common interests and concerns to make changes, not individually, but as a group of service providers within the state,” Soulé said. This membership, in turn, provides Indian River County with credible, timely and useful information on local, state, and national levels.
CHC origins date back to 1965 as part of President Johnson’s Office of Economic Opportunity to fight poverty and improve the health care of underserved populations. “Community Health Centers were modeled from African tribes. It takes a village to raise a child. It’s not an individual effort. [CHCs] have the same philosophy, that as a team we will take care of the healthcare needs of those least likely to get it,” Soulé said.
All CHCs carry the same mission: to improve access to quality health services by bringing together agencies, legislators, and key persons able to affect healthcare services. “How each one carries out this mission varies from center to center because the whole premise of a community health center is responding to local needs,” Soulé said. All CHCs deliver medical, dental, and behavioral health care, yet some may specialize in necessary local services such as pregnancy or in-house pharmacies.
What’s the key take away for Indian River County residents? TCCH is the only CHC in Indian River County. As a CHC, the majority of individuals serving on the Board of Directors must be health center patients representing the population served. This means Soulé and the TCCH Board are not only your friends and neighbors — they are your healthcare champions. “Our Board always says, ‘you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.’ There are plenty of people who appear to have the wherewithal to go to private practice and don’t or can’t,” Soulé said.
The most important and differentiating factor about CHCs is, “We elevate all of our techniques and processes to the highest level in healthcare for all so everyone, regardless, and it’s not just regardless if you’re poor. It is regardless of wherever you are in your life: young, old, rich, poor, black, white, or purple. You can feel welcome, and it’s not a question of well you’re lucky you’re getting anything. We’re going to give you top-notch service regardless,” Soulé said.
