{"id":206929,"date":"2026-07-17T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centralhealth.net\/?p=206929"},"modified":"2026-07-16T14:38:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:38:46","slug":"four-new-voices-one-shared-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/four-new-voices-one-shared-calling\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0686\u0647\u0627\u0631 \u0635\u062f\u0627\u06cc \u0646\u0648\u060c \u06cc\u06a9 \u0647\u062f\u0641 \u0645\u0634\u062a\u0631\u06a9"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Central Health’s newest Community Health Workers turned their own life stories into a bridge for others<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Then, after an accelerated Central Health training program, a group of four Travis County residents became Community Health Workers (CHW). In July, Matthew Rodriguez, Alexia Campbell, Nohea Tumale and Melanie Neri were the second graduating class from Central Health\u2019s full-time 13-week apprenticeship program. <\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing there are individuals who can connect people with resources who don\u2019t have them,\u201d said Tumale, a former manager in the fitness industry, \u201cit fires me up. I was glad to be a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Understanding The Role<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\"CHW<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In health care, CHWs strengthen patients\u2019 connections to the things they need for good health and provide access to resources they might not be looking for or even know about. They work as liaisons between the community and the health care system. And they\u2019re integral toward creating positive health outcomes. <\/p>\n

This role is vital, because CHWs often enter a patient\u2019s journey at their most important juncture\u2014as care coordination must be navigated; as preventative health care options must be discussed; and as transitional moments in the health care continuum should be managed. <\/p>\n

Central Health\u2019s long-term vision for the Community Health Worker Training Program is to deliver more help to the system and provide care for people with limited or no access to it. <\/p>\n

As workforce shortages in health care continue to pile up, programs like this one have served to shore up gaps and redevelop the pipeline. <\/p>\n

\u201cCentral Health has recognized the importance of CHWs and has chosen to invest in this,\u201d Central Health Director of Education and Research Carol Wang, PhD, said. <\/p>\n

Central Health\u2019s 13-week apprenticeship culminates with students earning their CHW certifications. <\/p>\n

Real Life Lessons<\/h3>\n

Years ago, while working as a preventative medicine specialist in the Army, Matthew Rodriguez was providing humanitarian assistance to the people of a small Honduran village when a huge storm swept in. <\/p>\n

His team was forced to stay that night. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe mayor of the town got all the townspeople together, and they gave us rolled-up mattresses,\u201d he said. \u201cThey cared that we had a place to lay down and food to eat.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rodriguez (who remains in the Army reserves) never forgot the experience. Today, he says, it sheds light on what health care means to people without consistent access to it. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to go out and give these resources is one of the biggest things,\u201d Rodriguez said. <\/p>\n

Melanie Neri came to the CHW program as a substitute teacher who aspired to help people more broadly. At home, she held the responsibility of contributing to her family’s needs, and when time and finances allowed, took classes at Austin Community College. <\/p>\n

Alexia Campbell, meanwhile, recently moved to Austin from Baltimore. With previous entry-level experience in health care, she vowed to advance her career and make a larger impact. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like to do work that feels important,\u201d she said, \u201cand where I feel like I\u2019m making a difference.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nohea Tumale certainly understood that feeling, too. In a previous role managing a gym chain on the west coast, he often found joy in outreach work. <\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to work toward my goal of helping the community in a more medical way,\u201d he said. \u201cThe CHW position fit my values perfectly for that.\u201d <\/p>\n

A Fulfilling Career<\/h3>\n

The Central Health system employs about 55 CHWs in total, said Ryann Neubauer, Central Health\u2019s Community Health Worker program manager. In 2026, nine graduates have completed two cohorts of the CHW program, with a third planned for August. Most of the graduates of the program have since been hired for roles within the Central Health system. Because of the program\u2019s success and popularity, in 2027 Central Health is planning to expand cohorts to seven students and will also be partnering with Goodwill Central Texas and Foundation Communities. <\/p>\n

Statewide, Texas communities are seeing numbers of CHWs. Between 2023 to 2024, the amount of CHWs increased by 33%, according to the Texas Health and Human Services department. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that we are wanting to expand and align our mission and make it a year of access,\u201d said Neubauer, \u201cand we know the best way to do that is through Community Health Workers who are people that have lived experiences.\u201d <\/p>\n

Over the 13-week course, Central Health\u2019s accelerated training provided candidates with a bounty of information, compiling 320 hours of coursework on top of 200 hours of observational learning in clinical settings and at partner organizations. <\/p>\n

Students learn about community health and disease prevention. They also learn about disparities in mental health, substance use, and environmental health. Acronyms like \u201cSDOH,\u201d otherwise known as social determinants of health, are memory-banked and meant to provide understanding around the non-medical challenges people face in environments that impact a person\u2019s long-term wellbeing. <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"CHW<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"CHW<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Introduction To Training<\/h3>\n

In-clinic shadowing remains one of the training\u2019s biggest tools. Students take guidance from seasoned CHWs who walk them through practical environments: talking with patients, notetaking in Epic\u2019s MyChart, and interacting with nurses and physicians within hospital systems. <\/p>\n

In the last week before graduation, Rodriguez welcomed one of these lessons. Inside Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, he faced a new situation with a patient\u2014one that offered him to think on his feet. <\/p>\n

Cicely Gaines, a Central Health Community Health Worker with nearly a decade of experience, flanked to his right. When the moment required, she provided seamless calm. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe knew exactly what to say,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI wish I could have done that.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you will,\u201d Gaines added. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou see what you can help them with. And then you see what you can do for them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Answering The Call<\/h3>\n

CHWs can sometimes best be described as jack-of-all-trades. They might be needed in clinical settings to help patients secure access to services. Sometimes, their assignments can take them to enrollment events to assist with documentation. They might help a person sign up for MAP (Central Health\u2019s Medical Access Program) or MAP Basic, two coverage options for Travis County residents with low income. <\/p>\n

CHWs might work in an administrative setting and help track programs and resources digitally. Or they may have to call patients on the phone. <\/p>\n

Altogether, the job remains the same: connect people to care, where and when they need it. Inside the Central Health system and across health care, that role is critically important. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many resources that no one knows or talks about,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cI never realized how much help is out there. So being able to go out and give these resources is one of the biggest things.\u201d <\/p>\n

Connecting people to care is also why most do it. <\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing up, my family used a lot of the resources that community health workers gave us,\u201d Neri said. \u201cSo now this feels kind of full circle.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Central Health’s newest Community Health Workers turned their own life stories into a bridge for others They came to health care from different points in their lives: from the military, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":206934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[68,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-featured","category-news","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206929"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206942,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206929\/revisions\/206942"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/54.164.224.163\/fa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206929"}],"curies":[{"name":"\u0648\u0631\u062f\u067e\u0631\u0633","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}