It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Sue Veer, a visionary national leader for community health and a longstanding member of the Executive Committee of the NACHC Board of Directors. Sue also helped lead the NACHC 340B Work Group and served on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Primary Health Care Association.
Her career in health care spanned 40 years, including nearly 20 years as the President and CEO of Carolina Health Centers, Inc. (CHC), a medical home for more than 26,000 patients in rural Greenwood, South Carolina. CHC’s 19 medical practices include 10 family medicine practices, three pediatric centers, two pharmacies, and four primary care clinics located within community mental health clinics. Under Sue’s leadership, CHC became a pioneer in developing an integrated pediatric medical home model that includes an array of early childhood services, including evidence-based home visitation programs.
As she wrote in one of her regular “Monday Messages” emailed to friends and colleagues, her work with Community Health Centers brought purpose to her life:
“Nothing in the professional realm has brought greater purpose to my life than participating in the process of ensuring everyone has access to comprehensive health care, along with the knowledge and motivation for them to seek better health and well-being for themselves and those they love and care about.”
Sue’s grace, eloquence, and deft policy skills won over skeptics in Congress. Widely respected for her expertise in the minutiae of 340B, health policy, finance, and governance, she possessed an uncanny ability to distill complex regulatory language into clear messages – a skill that made her an invaluable ambassador for NACHC and health centers.
Sue helped shape national policies and strengthen the voice of health centers at the highest levels of government. Whether speaking to county, state, or federal lawmakers, Sue was a persuasive champion for the health center mission.
As recently as last year, Sue appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee to describe the impact of changes to the 340B program on CHC and other health centers.
Sue recognized early on the value a pharmacy would bring to her patients and how it would help achieve CHC’s goals of access, quality, and cost effectiveness. She became an expert in understanding the benefits of the federal 340B drug pricing program for patients. Sue explained these benefits in one of the many testimonies she gave to elected officials on the topic:
“[T]he 340B Drug Pricing Program has not only made it possible for health centers to provide access to affordable prescription medication for those vulnerable populations; it also enabled increased access to primary and preventive care that would otherwise be unfunded and therefore unavailable in the communities served.”
Sue said she found her ‘forever career home’ when she toured CHC more than 20 years ago. Throughout her tenure, she touched all who had the pleasure of working with her through her deep compassion, integrity, love of books, and exceptional gift for writing and communication. As both mentor and leader, Sue cultivated the next generation of health care advocates while never losing sight of the patients and communities at the heart of her work. Her legacy lives on in the thousands of lives she touched and the enduring strength of the Community Health Center movement that she helped nurture.