For Tamara Could, chief working officer of Amida Care, being a Black New Yorker means selecting to be a part of the answer.
“I get to decide on if I need to be the issue, or the answer,” she mentioned. “I select to be part of the answer.”
It’s a guideline that reveals up in every thing she does –– whether or not she’s overseeing the operations of a nonprofit well being plan serving Medicaid members, mentoring early-career professionals, or main confidence-building workshops via her “Love Myself” program. As COO, Tamara ensures Amida Care runs easily on each degree –– however for her, the work is rarely nearly infrastructure or spreadsheets.
“We present up for our members,” she mentioned. “That is the primary job the place there’s this a lot engagement. I work intently with employees and members alike. My position just isn’t solely to ensure they obtain care –– however to make sure the well being of the group itself.”
Tamara’s management is grounded in years of expertise in healthcare operations, Medicaid, and managed care. Earlier than becoming a member of Amida Care, she served as Vice President of Operations Supply & Premium Income at EmblemHealth, the place she additionally sat on the corporate’s Variety, Fairness, and Inclusion (DEI) Council and served as an govt sponsor for worker useful resource teams. Her dedication to well being fairness, notably for susceptible populations, is private and unwavering.
She has a warning about looming Medicaid cuts: “Whenever you begin reducing authorities applications, the cash that individuals use for meals goes to different areas –– like costly medical payments. Folks search healthcare much less. Every part modifications.” She’s particularly involved about psychological well being entry. “How do you retain going to your therapist? How do you retain taking your remedy?”
Tamara believes in wellness check-ins, each two weeks, not less than. “It may be so simple as having dinner or sitting in the lounge watching TV,” she mentioned.
Tamara grew to become a New Yorker eight years in the past. Raised in North Hook, Virginia, she explains, “New York is limitless –– advanced and easy,” she displays. “Probably the most loving and supportive human beings are right here.”
With an MBA from Outdated Dominion College and certifications as an govt, life, and wellness coach, Tamara blends technique with coronary heart. She can also be a mom of three daughters, every working within the fields of PR, psychological well being, and legislation enforcement. “I’m all the time the large sister,” she provides. “That’s who I’ve all the time been.”
Initially, Tamara thought she’d develop into a lawyer. However as soon as she found the enterprise aspect of healthcare and the flexibility to work instantly with communities, she discovered her calling.
She now speaks overtly in regards to the significance of DEI, particularly because it faces rising scrutiny.“Making certain the taking part in subject is truthful, that everybody has a chance and is revered –– that’s DEI,” she mentioned. “However you need to do the work. What number of organizations say they’re dedicated and don’t reside as much as it?”
Considered one of her proudest efforts is the “Love My Self” program, which fosters vanity in underserved communities. On the first workshop, over 40 folks attended, many battling suicidal ideas or residing in susceptible situations.
“Listening to each other creates a secure haven,” she defined. “That is one thing needed for his or her well-being, one thing so many communities lack entry to.”
To younger Black professionals beginning in New York, she affords this: “Don’t settle. What you do at the moment impacts what occurs tomorrow.”
