Robbie Pottharst @ Cityblock Health - Community Leadership

Robbie grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and went to college in Virginia. He double majored in economics and biology on a pre-med track, and became a healthcare economist. Currently, he is the VP of business development at CareMore Health System. He decided to help build and launch a rapidly expanding Medicaid primary care in several states.

For Robbie his goal is to pursue a career to help lead change in the healthcare industry, and also is focusing on his efforts to help serve people who live in low income communities.

What drives Robbie's career focus is when members tell him that they’ve received attention like never before. He has been told that no one has taken time like Robbie and his team have to help them. Care teams are able to practice in ways they never could, and they are all making tangible impacts on people’s lives.

Low income communities are one of their biggest challenges. One way of solving these problems is uniting primary care, behavioral health, and social care in a new way that brings a new experiences to people that live in low income communities.

Robbie's team had hoped that ways of integrating social care would have come sooner. They hope to provide things such as food, shelter, financial security, and a few other things to help improve people’s lives. It needs to become synonymous with health care delivery in order to make an impact.

Robbie hopes to see a shift in preventative care systems. Along with structrual shifts, he wants to see payment models that reflect high quality care in value replace traditional service models. He thinks one change will be how primary care is delivered, which is the foundation of a healthy care system. He hopes it’ll look different and better address patient needs.

Robbie's main grounding point is his family. He’s also working on a startup company. For enrichment, he listens to various podcasts. In terms of daily rituals, he makes his schedule and prioritizes important things.