Learning the value of safety-net providers first-hand as a child patient, Misty Drake has more than 20 years of experience in community health. She is dedicated to improving the safety net system because of its role in improving health care access and outcomes for low-income and other vulnerable communities.

Currently, Misty serves as the Vice President of Client Services and Growth at Medical Home Network (MHN). She is responsible for building and growing a nationally recognized care transformation model that helps integrated health delivery systems in the safety net succeed under advanced alternative payment models. She is also the Co-Executive Director of West Side Health Equity Collaborative, an organization committed to transforming health care on Chicago’s West Side. Before joining MHN, Misty was the Chief Operating Officer at Piedmont Health Services in Chapel Hill, NC, and held senior leadership and management roles at various health care entities in Chicago, starting her professional career at Lawndale Christian Health Center.

Misty first became involved with Health & Medicine as a 1999-2000 Schweitzer Fellow, and currently serves as both a Schweitzer Advisory and Health & Medicine Board Member.

A Health & Medicine Board Member since 2009, she finds the opportunity to engage with longstanding professionals on the board who have done such important work to be of enormous value . “The mixture of up and coming public health leaders with those who have been in the field for decades provides a critical opportunity for knowledge transfer and brainstorming ideas for diverse perspectives that is so needed in public health,” says Misty.

“What inspires me most about being a part of Health & Medicine, and continuing to support the Schweitzer Program,  is the ongoing advocacy around the safety net system, whether we are looking at policy or workforce development (including both the Schweitzer Fellowship and Chicago Area Health Education Center at Health & Medicine) or advocacy and research issues related to public health infrastructure. Health & Medicine’s mission of advancing health aligns deeply with my personal and professional goals.”

Misty, who moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, about eight years ago with her husband and three children, loves spending free time with her family, especially playing card games and board games, with UNO being an all-time favorite.