MARIE GHAZAL, CEO of the Rhode Island Free Clinic, was recently honored as the 2020 recipient of the Rhode Island Foundation’s $50,000 Murray Family Prize for Community Enrichment. Ghazal received the award in recognition of her commitment to helping Rhode Islanders with cultural and language barriers and economic challenges obtain affordable health care.
What was your reaction to being the recipient of $50,000 and the Murray Family Prize for Community Enrichment? When [Rhode Island Foundation CEO and President] Neil Steinberg called me to tell me the good news, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and shared with him that this year has been perhaps the most challenging year in my 43-year career in health care. Due to COVID, many of us have been faced with uncertainty, pain and loss, and have seen the inequalities in health care, especially in our underserved and minority communities. I am deeply humbled, especially now for this achievement in my career.
What inspires you to do the work you do to help people get the health care they need? I have always had a deep passion to increase access to health care for those in need. I started my work in Central Falls in 1981 as the director of a one-room clinic. Now at RIFC, I lead hundreds of volunteers and donors to care for thousands of our state’s uninsured. Imagine the feeling of ending a lottery system of care, opening a new dental clinic to serve someone who never saw a dentist, or creating a partnership for patients to receive free medications. It has been an honor for me to do this work.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing at the clinic and how are you trying to address them? COVID has disrupted our model of care, which relies on volunteers, partnerships and philanthropic giving. Since COVID, we have had fewer volunteers, students and academic placements to staff our clinic, and our fundraising efforts are reduced, and we have resorted to virtual and social media. Our small workforce is affected daily by COVID and we have had to transform our delivery model while operating a new COVID test site, adapting to telehealth and providing more behavioral health services. Positively, I have been inspired by kindness, selflessness and hard work of so many people, especially front-line workers at our clinic and in the community, to help those in need during this pandemic.
What do you hope to accomplish during your tenure as executive director of the clinic? I consider my work reducing health disparities and inequalities for the safety net – a forgotten segment of America’s health care system – to be my legacy. I have brought partners together to innovate and implement new ideas that have enriched the [lives] for marginalized communities. I will continue to build sustainable programs to improve the lives of economically disadvantaged populations and transform care models for the underserved. Hopefully, my work at RIFC will continue to address root causes of poor health that will create lasting change toward health inequity in our country.
