Ellen Adlam, a Board Member of Peninsula Community Health Services (PCHS), in Soldotna, Alaska, and the first Consumer Representative to be elected to the Alaska Primary Care Association (APCA) board in Alaska, has been inducted into the Grassroots Hall of Fame for the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). Grassroots Hall of Fame members have made lasting contributions to insuring the creation, survival and strength of Community Health Centers (CHC) and the Health Center Movement through their dedicated and tireless efforts over many years. “It’s quite an honor and I couldn’t be more pleased,” Adlam told the Dispatch in an interview, “I’ve been involved with NACHC on and off for ten years, but my involvement all stems from being involved with Peninsula Community Health Services (PCHS). Being a board member for over 12 years has been an amazing adventure and as I moved out of chairing that board and started telling our story on a national level I became impassioned with community health centers that serve over 20million patients across the United States and we’ve become the number one primary care provider across the country and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of that movement and to advocate for it,” she said.

Adlam and her husband also own the Blue Moose Bed & Biscuit, Lakeside Lodge and doggie day care in Soldotna. “Wellness is about total person care. Healthcare is about primary care but it’s also about full person care and if you’re not happy mentally and physically you’re out of balance and you have to be balanced and there is nothing we have found that balances someone faster than working with dogs. Canines know when things are off. We have a number of people who come in here just to have some doggie time and tell us I’m having a bad day and I just need a puppy to understand and let me have the petting time that we both enjoy and that’s what we’re here for,” she said. Adlam was presented the Hall of Fame Award at the 2016 NACHC Policy and Issues Forum in Washington, D.C., an event attended by more than 2,000 health center leaders from around the country.