Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades welcomes new board member
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades is welcoming a new member to their board of directors. Rita Bacho brings a wealth of experience and insights to VIM’s board and will be invaluable to helping Deschutes County's most vulnerable populations receive medical care.
About Rita Bacho
Rita Bacho is originally from the Upper West Region, Wa, Ghana. She earned a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University for Development Studies in Ghana.
After graduating medical school, she worked at Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana as a General Practitioner with special focus on Public Health. She has worked internationally on various prevention programs including hypertension, TB, obesity, STDs, malaria as well as guinea worm eradication.
Upon moving to the USA, she decided to pursue a Master of Public Health (MPH) the University of New England, Portland ME. She is Board Certified in Infection Prevention & Control (CIC) and a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).
She has since worked as a public health specialist and undertaken projects in various organizations including a tobacco control project among immigrant, underserved Tennessee communities, health promotion and chronic disease prevention at Providence Health & Services, Water and Sanitation (WASH) at Grace Cares Inc., Injury and Violence Prevention at the American Public Health Association (APHA) and health equity at the Association of State Public Health Nutritionists (ASPHN).
She then transitioned to working in Providence Hospital as an Infection Control Specialist. She is currently the Public Health Communicable Diseases/STD/Adolescent Health Program Manager at Deschutes County Health Services, she is also a member of the board of directors at Grace Cares Inc.
Rita is very passionate about helping poor, vulnerable and marginalized communities access health resources to improve their overall quality of life.
About Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades
Volunteers in Medicine Clinic of the Cascades (VIM) is a nonprofit clinic in Bend that provides free medical care to low-income, uninsured adults from working families in Central Oregon. Our mission is “to improve the health and wellness of the medically uninsured or critically underserved through the engagement of professionals, community partners, and dedicated volunteers.” VIM is the only clinic in Central Oregon that cares for the uninsured without charge. Patients receive primary and specialty medical care, medications, mental health care, surgery, physical therapy, lab work, medical tests, and education programs. All care is provided through medical and support volunteers. www.vim-cascades.org
