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Welcome to “Paying it Forward,” a monthly interview series made possible by Piedmont Health. In this series, we hear from the folks at Piedmont about the importance of community health centers – and why they chose a career in community health.
This month, Aaron welcomes Daniella Jaimes-Colina, who took over as Piedmont’s CEO in January, replacing Brian Toomey, who stepped down after 18 years.
Originally from Venezuela, Jaimes-Colina overcame a lot of adversity to get into the field, including a cancer diagnosis in the middle of medical school. She had a lot of support from her family, many of whom are in the healthcare field themselves – but she also got a boost from an early-career internship, in one of the unlikeliest places.
“I got a call from SeaWorld in Orlando,” she says. “Believe it or not, the theme park industry and the healthcare industry are very, very similar, because we’re service industries, so I learned a lot in terms of customer service. That experience was amazing – and then it opened the door definitely for the formal healthcare market.”
Today, Jaimes-Colina is here in North Carolina, leading an organization that provides health services to residents and underserved communities across the entire region.
“We serve the population that has the most difficult time trying to get to services,” she says. “You have that sense of reward, every single day, when you hear those stories, when you hear about a neighbor that wasn’t able to get into services and now (can), and then because of that is able to find a job, or sustain their family, or avoid an unnecessary hospitalization or chronic issue…
“Those stories that you hear every single day, the smiles that you return to people’s faces – that’s what keeps you going. That’s the best part of it.”
Listen:
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