Heidi Nelson Adjunct Faculty, Undergraduate, SESP

Heidi Nelson currently serves as the Executive Director of Heartland Health Outreach, Inc., a community health organization located in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago.  With a budget of $19.2  million in FY2006 and 280 employees, HHO serves over 21,000 homeless and impoverished persons per year offering over 110,000 primary care, mental health, dental and social service visits.  

Ms. Nelson has managed the operations of Heartland Health Outreach since 1992, and is responsible for program development, funding support, advocacy on behalf of the populations served by HHO, and representing HHO at the local, state and national level. Ms. Nelson reports to the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, CHO’s parent organization.

Previously, Ms. Nelson was Assistant Vice President at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  Over five years at NMH, she served in a number of administrative roles, including AVP for Support Services and Director of Professional Services.  

Heidi is currently the Chair of the Board of Managers of the Alliance of Chicago Community Health Services, an integrated service delivery network of community health centers in Chicago. She served as President of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council in 1996, and for two years served as the Treasurer of Community Health Choice, an HMO formed by community health centers in Illinois. She serves on numerous local committees and councils that address health issues related to homelessness and poverty.  She is the chair of the local district health council, serves on the board of the national CAEAR (Communities Advocating for Emergency AIDS Relief) Foundation, and chairs the Community Development and Health Center Expansion Committee of the Illinois Primary Health Care Association.   

Ms. Nelson is a past president of the Chicago Health Executives Forum, and has held numerous leadership positions at her church, the First United Methodist Church of Chicago (Chicago Temple).  Heidi serves as adjunct faculty at Northwestern University, where she teaches health policy.  

Ms. Nelson received her masters degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan School of Public Health in 1985, and remained in Ann Arbor for two years as the Fellow in Academic Medical Center Administration at the University of Michigan Medical Center.  Her bachelors degree is in Community Health Education from the University of Illinois.
05/06

Soc Pol 351

Social Policy and the US Healthcare System This course will introduce the student to the health care delivery system in the United States through a review of US health policy issues. A construct for review of major health policy issues will be introduced and current health policy issues will be examined through this lens. Special attention will be paid to health disparities for low-income and minority populations; and how policy decisions exacerbate or relieve these disparities. Interactive lecture, focused discussions and student exploration and presentation will be the format for the course.