When Ashley Orphe was just 10 years old, she lost her mother to breast cancer. A traumatic experience for anyone, the pain of losing a parent was compounded by a sense that maybe her mother’s death could have been prevented. But without access to health insurance, early diagnosis and top treatment were out of reach.
The New Iberia native credits this experience for leading her to a life of helping people.
“I want to make sure that never happens to another person’s mom,” Orphe says. “That they have to wait that long to check on themselves,” she adds. “We have to ensure that that no longer happens.”
It was while working for a different nonprofit that Orphe first learned about the Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center, or SWLAHEC. The center’s cause of advocating for accessible health care in Louisiana resonated with her, and she was eager to become a part of the organization.
Equipped with a master’s degree in public administration and professional training in human resources and organizational change, she was confident she could make an impact.
After being hired as COO in 2022, Orphe became the organization’s first female African American CEO last year. Now the head of SWLAHEC, she is charged with improving the health of residents in 13 parishes by increasing access to healthcare education, services and information.
The organization helps people lead healthier lives by focusing on two main areas: educating the public on healthy choices and training healthcare professionals, with an awareness of the unique factors at play in each community it serves. “We provide health education and tailor it to those communities’ needs,” Orphe explains.
SWLAHEC uses community health workers in some of its programs. These are trained individuals who help educate people about health issues, often in everyday institutions like barber shops and schools. SWLAHEC has used community health workers since it was founded, but it was one of Ashley’s team members who discovered an even more effective way to build connections.
Visiting a beauty salon, Chiara Theard, a community healthcare worker and SWLAHEC’s community health director, asked clients if they wanted a free blood pressure check — but her efforts didn’t gain much traction.
She suggested to Orphe that people in the community trusted the salon, but not necessarily her. She proposed that SWLAHEC train barbers to be community health workers instead, since locals already trusted them.
“We should be doing that in everything we do,” Orphe realized. “Our organization has the ability to be invited into communities that have been underserved. … We have access, but we are not the trusted community members.” She plans to expand on this new approach in her role as CEO.
There are long-term benefits to this strategy as well. Even if SWLAHEC had to stop sending its staff to certain communities, local health advocates could pick up the baton. That’s what Orphe is aiming for: sustained change and positive connections.
Orphe began expanding the use of community health workers and recently shifted the focus to training actual community members whenever possible.
Sometimes called peers, navigators or aunties, depending on which program they are associated with, these health advocates are usually people from the community who are influential and have shown an interest in improving the health of their neighbors.
They perform blood pressure tests, speak on vaccine equity, educate on cancer prevention, distribute Narcan, offer healthy eating information, assist with navigating Medicaid, distribute first-aid kits, among other services. Most are unpaid volunteers, but their input plays a significant role in informing how SWLAHEC performs outreach and distribution efforts.
Orphe is quick to give a lot of credit to her team, including the administrative staff, professional health care personnel, and the community health workers for the change they effect.
For her, the new role with the organization marks a milestone and an opportunity, one she didn’t quite see coming. “I never would have thought I’d become the CEO of a healthcare nonprofit. Life comes full circle.”
