VALLEY — Valley-Wide Health Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that President/CEO Gigi Darricades has been named the 2018 Stanley J. Brasher Legacy Award Winner. The Stanley J. Brasher Legacy Award was created by the Community Health Association of Mountain Plains States (CHAMPS) Executive Committee in 2013 to honor individuals who have dedicated their careers to solving the problems of health, poverty, and human rights and who have contributed toward the mission and recognition of community and migrant health centers in the Mountain/Plains States.

Darricades started her role at Valley-Wide Health Systems with three decades of knowledge from working in health care administration and law. She used her experience to lead Valley-Wide, spanning the width of Colorado and covering nearly half of the state. She has led Valley-Wide through the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the expansion of Medicaid in Colorado, and the vicissitudes of the economic and political environment.

“I was so surprised and honored to be awarded the Stanley J. Brasher Legacy Award,” Darricades said. “This award means very much to me because Stanley Brasher has worked so hard to serve the underserved. He also has been helpful and supportive to me when I started working at Valley-Wide.”

Darricades has also served on Colorado Community Health Network’s (CCHN) Board of Directors since 2011, where she has been a strong voice for rural and small-town communities that need Community Health Centers. She has served as secretary for CCHN’s Executive Committee and on their Public Affairs Committee. In her roles on the Board and Committees, she thoughtfully weighs the needs of Community Health Center patients with the political and funding environments to help move discussions and decisions forward.

In addition, Darricades has chaired CCHN’s Strategic Workforce Committee since 2016. She has guided this committee in defining the goals and strategies to ensure health centers implement effective recruitment and retention strategies. Her leadership has been instrumental in creating training programs for Community Health Center staff and ensuring Colorado Community Health Centers are the employers of choice in their community.

The efforts to maintain relationships with all elected officials and other decision makers, spending time to explain complex issues in a manner that is recognized, and then take action, shows Darricades’ commitment to the communities and people of Valley-Wide Health Systems.