Terry Gallagher, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CNL

Terry Gallagher, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CNL, is the nursing director for the Center to Transform Health and Housing and a family nurse practitioner in the Department of Social Work and Community Health at RUSH University Medical Center. Gallagher was one of the nursing leaders who helped establish the Sue Gin Health Center at Oakley Square Apartments, a free clinic located within an affordable housing development on the West side of Chicago. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gallagher supported the development of CARReS, a medical respite isolation facility for people with COVID-19 who had housing instability, in partnership with RUSH, Chicago Department of Public Health, and A Safe Haven. Gallagher has a Bachelor of Arts in History and Master of Science from University of Illinois at Chicago, a Master of Science in Nursing from DePaul University, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice from RUSH University.

Sara Izquierdo, MPH, M2 at UICOM

Sara Izquierdo is the founder of the Mobile Migrant Health Team and a second year medical student at UICOM. While pursuing her Master of Public Health prior to medical school, she investigated the incidence of violence against migrants transiting Latin America in collaboration with Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health. In Chicago, she volunteers as a community organizer and has coordinated neighborhood-led vaccination campaigns during the COVID-19 pandemic and preventative health fairs in underserved, low-resource communities. In April of 2023, she started the Mobile Migrant Health Team with a group of classmates and physicians to provide health assessments for recently arrived asylum seekers.

Stephan Koruba, FNP-BC

Stephan Koruba is a Family Certified Nurse Practitioner, with nearly 20 years’ experience providing care in both traditional and non-traditional practice settings.  For the past 5 years, Stephan has provided free advanced nursing care to Chicago’s unhoused community while serving as Clinical Supervisor of The Night Ministry’s Street Medicine Team.

During his early professional career, while designing and implementing community improvement projects in rural Alaska and Bolivia, Stephan came to understand that the basic form and direction of community development must come from the people embarking on the process of change.  Engaging in persistent and nonjudgmental dialog with community members, allowed Stephan to become a student of the people and culture he was serving and in turn, assured the nature of the work served the community’s interests.

While completing his master’s in nursing at DePaul University, Stephan found this approach was directly applicable to the patient/provider relationship and is often referred to as ‘meeting clients where they are’.  Taking the time to understand a client’s history, priorities and motivations, not only affirms and empowers them, but leads directly to productive outcomes.

Stephan has enjoyed the opportunity to work in urban and rural settings, within large and small healthcare systems, at the level of local and regional government, alongside national and international agencies, through university systems and for both non-profit and for-profit corporations.  Across these varied ecosystems, he has gained valuable experience in cross-cultural communication, program design, grant writing/reporting, interagency program implementation/evaluation, research and staff management.

• Director of Preventive Emergency Medicine
• Senior Director, Business Development, Institute of Healthcare Delivery Design (IHDD)

University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health)

Stephen Brown has split appointments between the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Institute for Healthcare Delivery Design (IHDD) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).  He leads the Better Health Through Housing program, UI Health’s housing program for the chronically homeless.  It is the longest running healthcare-to-housing program (since 2015) and has housed more homeless persons than any other single hospital in the country.  He also runs ComPAcT, a team-based care program that works to better coordinate the care for healthcare super-utilizers.

His role as a IHDD Senior Director focuses on systemic social justice, working collaboratively with legislators, judges, first responders, state agencies, healthcare, and behavioral health service providers to decriminalize homelessness, mental illness and substance use, and to create a care continuum that addresses the complex care needs of persons suffering from these conditions.

Stephan Koruba is a Family Certified Nurse Practitioner, with nearly 20 years’ experience providing care in both traditional and non-traditional practice settings.  For the past 5 years, Stephan has provided free advanced nursing care to Chicago’s unhoused community while serving as Clinical Supervisor of The Night Ministry’s Street Medicine Team.

During his early professional career, while designing and implementing community improvement projects in rural Alaska and Bolivia, Stephan came to understand that the basic form and direction of community development must come from the people embarking on the process of change.  Engaging in persistent and nonjudgmental dialog with community members, allowed Stephan to become a student of the people and culture he was serving and in turn, assured the nature of the work served the community’s interests.

While completing his master’s in nursing at DePaul University, Stephan found this approach was directly applicable to the patient/provider relationship and is often referred to as ‘meeting clients where they are’.  Taking the time to understand a client’s history, priorities and motivations, not only affirms and empowers them, but leads directly to productive outcomes.

Stephan has enjoyed the opportunity to work in urban and rural settings, within large and small healthcare systems, at the level of local and regional government, alongside national and international agencies, through university systems and for both non-profit and for-profit corporations.  Across these varied ecosystems, he has gained valuable experience in cross-cultural communication, program design, grant writing/reporting, interagency program implementation/evaluation, research and staff management.

Dr. Ana Gil Garcia, a member of the City of Chicago Advisory Board of New American and member of the Immigrant Committee of Cook County, is a Venezuelan-American scholar, Professor Emerita of Northeastern Illinois University, and the founder of the Illinois Venezuelan Alliance, advocates for immigration solutions, women rights, and Latino civic representation. She is a 5-time Fulbright U.S. Scholar. Her academic and humanitarian work has been recognized and awarded multiple times including 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the US, 30 Outstanding Visionary Women in Higher Education, Three Times More Influential Latinos in Chicago, El Humanitario Award by Cook County, and the Rotary International’s Face of Humanity in Action to fight poverty.

Her past work includes numerous positions in educational leadership roles, including time as Executive Director of Academic Effectiveness for St. Augustine College. She has been a visiting professor at universities in the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Liberia, Armenia, and the Republic of Georgia. She has a Doctorate in Education from Western Michigan University, a Specialist degree in Curriculum from the Pedagogical University of Venezuela, a Master of Science from the University of Tennessee, and a bachelor’s degree in biology teaching from Pedagogic University of Venezuela.

On November 30, 2023, Dr. Gil Garcia was invited to the White House among 80 prominent Venezuelans to attend the first celebration of the “Day of Venezuela” in the United States. She is the President of the 1st Summit of Venezuelan Organizations in the US that will meet on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in May 2024.

Elizabeth Davis, MD is Chief Medical Officer Liaison for Community Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center. She has woven together health equity, clinical innovation, and education throughout her career and has expertise in building innovative models of care for complex patients. Dr. Davis has led several community-based initiatives, including a community vaccination and testing team a mobile health care team for people experiencing homelessness. Both teams have partnered closely with the Chicago Department of Public Health and other institutions to provide healthcare for new arrivals to Chicago.

Dr. Davis has had leadership roles in complex care management and care coordination programs both at Rush University Medical Center and San Francisco Health Network. She has presented nationally about implementation and outcomes of complex care programs. She has also studied patient perspectives on health care using both quantitative and qualitative methods. She has served on Institute for Healthcare Improvement, National Quality Forum, California Association of Public Hospitals, Chicago Department of Public Health, and San Francisco Department of Public Health committees focused on health equity, case management, care transitions, interdisciplinary practice, and medical education.

Dr. Davis led the creation and growth of the Health Equity and Social Justice Program in Rush Medical School. Prior to coming to Rush, she was a faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco, where she taught learners about complex care, health equity, and quality improvement.