Gillian Walcott Named Outstanding Community Health Worker of the Year by Trinity Health

Gillian (center) was recognized by Trinity Health for her compassion and dedication to improving the health and well-being of the community.

Presented during National Community Health Worker (CHW) Awareness Month, the award celebrates CHWs who exemplify excellence in service and embody the Trinity Health Mission through their dedication to patients and communities.

Gillian’s nomination highlighted her extraordinary skill, compassion and authenticity in her work, drawn from both professional expertise and lived experience. She builds trust with patients and ensures their voices shape how their care is designed and delivered. Gillian’s expertise has been instrumental in strengthening CHW-supported hypertension work, helping to define the roles and partnership with the University of Saint Joseph. With each and every patient encounter, Gillian represents the very best of community health work.

Gillian was recognized during Trinity Health’s Systemwide Community Health Worker Celebration, “Equity in Action: Empowering Patients Through Lived Experience.” During the celebration, Gillian took the stage as a CHW storyteller. She spoke about her own health journey and how she draws upon her personal experience to support her patients in a non-judgmental, empathetic manner. Gillian received a kidney transplant in 1999 and became a peer mentor through the National Kidney Foundation, feeling like she had met her calling. “It took ‘me’ off my mind and allowed me to focus on others who were considering transplantation or were just having a tough time with hemodialysis,” she said. “Through this journey I learned a lot about myself and people struggling to get through chronic illness, all that it can upend, that there is a normal – a new normal – and it is doable. I am proof of that.”

Gillian also shared a patient story that highlighted her actions to build trust, connect them with community resources and help coordinate their care. Following her segment, a colleague said, “If I wasn’t already a Community Health Worker, hearing Gillian’s story would have made me want to become one.”

Gillian, who has been with Saint Francis in different roles since 2015, was humbled and honored by the recognition, saying, “Community health work is a team effort. We build relationships, hold hands, cry a little with our clients sometimes, all so that the patient shows up a little more dignified than when you last saw them; a little more empowered regardless of the chronic illness that can so often consume our very humanity. Caring does not fall on any one person’s shoulders, it requires thought and effort with expertise and compassion to effectively provide the care needed to pull a patient through what might be the worst calamity of their lives. We bridge the gap and we make life make sense while the patient walks through this otherworldly experience that is health care.” 

Every day, Community Health Workers help bridge the gap between health care and the community. Through advocacy, education, resource navigation and relationship-building, Community Health Workers play a critical role in improving patient outcomes, addressing social needs and advancing health equity.

Congratulations, Gillian!