b'Honoring a Legend: Maria LoredoOn June 12, 1978, Maria Loredo walked through the doors of a converted mechanics garage in Cornelius, Oregon. Fresh out of college, and a patient of the clinic, she was applying for the receptionist job at the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center. During her time with Virginia Garcia, Maria held just about every position in administration, before retiring in 2021, becoming a living archive of the history and lessons of the organization over the years. She stepped into the role of Chief Operations Officer in 2002. As COO, Maria championed health care for the youth of our communities through establishing school-based health centers in five cities across Washington and Yamhill counties. She served on numerous boards and advisory committees, ensuring the voices of our patients and others in our communities were heard. She personally developed and led an internal new employee class titled Understanding Poverty that outlined the determinants of poverty and the disparities and biases associated with poverty, even when they are unconscious. During COVID-19 she was a member of the Oregon Health Authoritys racial equity advisory board on vaccine rollout, working to bring increased awareness to the barriers that our patients were facing.Maria served as Virginia Garcias COO for more than 19 years, but her leadership and passion for the work being done and the peoplewe serve has been the north star for our organization for more than43 years. When you think of the mission and heart of Virginia Garcia, you think of Maria Loredo. #JointheFight'