Getting to Know Us

Greta Cummings – 30 Years and Counting

When Greta Cummings was hired by the Maine Ambulatory Care Coalition (MACC) as a part-time receptionist, little did she know that 30 years later she would still be here as integral part of the Admin Team.

A lot has happened during those 30 years. Greta started as one of 7 employees at MACC; the team consisted of an Executive Director, secretary, receptionist (Greta) and 3 program directors, and there were less than 13 member health centers. In 2002, MACC rebranded and changed their name to Maine Primary Care Association (MPCA). Shortly afterwards, fire and smoke damage from a fire in an adjacent office suite forced MPCA to move from Manchester to its present location in Augusta today.

Greta has long witnessed the ebb and flow that is grant and contract funded work. She has seen staffing at both ends of the spectrum – “bare-bones” with 3 staff and at an all-time high of 21 staff in 2005. She has watched the increasing movement in the State of Maine towards community health center care and been part of MPCA’s growth to the 20 member health centers of today. But through it all, MPCA has maintained and improved upon its mission to its member health centers and still houses many important programs and provides technical assistance on topics that are timely and relevant to the health care needs of today.

Greta currently works as an essential part of the Quality Improvement Team, supporting and assisting the Directors and Program Managers with programs such as HCCN, QI Initiatives and EP. Prior to that, she worked for over 10 years assisting in-depth with the Workforce Development & SEARCH programs. Says Greta, “It’s gratifying to provide administrative support to MPCA’s leaders, directors and managers to help lessen some of the workload, so they can focus more of their time and energy in meeting the important needs of MPCA’s member health centers.”

CEO Darcy Shargo, who has benefitted from having Greta as her direct Admin, has nothing but praise for Greta and her tenure at MPCA. “Greta has shown a long standing commitment to this organization and to its mission and members for a period of time that is epic, especially in the non-profit world. I have been honored to watch Greta grow in her role at the PCA, and to witness her incredible work ethic and desire to contribute to what we do. It is a gift to have someone on our team with such institutional knowledge and perspective on both how far we have come and how much more we can do to realize our best selves in service of Maine’s FQHCs. Greta is wonderful to work with—she is reliable, consistent, and comes to work every day with a positive attitude. We’re lucky to have her and on behalf of the MPCA team I offer a hearty congratulations to her on this milestone anniversary with the PCA.”

Greta and her husband Todd like to travel and spend time with their family. She has 2 children of her own, Patrick and Stephanie, along with 2 bonus-children, Logan and Sydney and a granddaughter, Mackenzie. One thing that Greta says was an important factor of her staying at MPCA all these years as a working parent was that “the importance of family life is recognized and an employee’s work/life balance is respected and encouraged. You just don’t find that everywhere.”

Congratulations Greta!

Greta Cummings
Quality Improvement Program Coordinator
(207) 621-0677 x201 | gcummings@mepca.org

 

New Hires at MPCA

Hillary Colcord – Hillary serves as the Health Equity Program Manager, working on issues related to outreach & enrollment, opiate use disorder, social determinants of health and health equity issues.

hcolcord@mepca.org
(207) 621-0677 ext. 217

Keith M. Gibson – Keith serves as the Director of Finance and Operations, overseeing the day-to-day operations and finances of the PCA as well as being responsible for a variety of areas far removed from the finance and administrative functions.

kgibson@mepca.org
(207) 621-0677 ext. 211

Christopher J. Pezzullo, DO – Chris serves as the Clinical Director, supporting the clinical integration, health equity and quality improvement programs.