Valley Cities Counseling has hired Sonia Handforth-Kome as its new chief operations officer.

She previously worked as a consultant for local nonprofits and community health centers in the state of Alaska after a long career in medical management.

Handforth-Kome has been working in medical management for patients and providers for 25 years and her experience runs the gamut from technical support on practice management systems and electronic health record systems, to coding, to medical transcription, to billing and collections, to organizational change management, to grant writing, to strategic planning; and from for-profit urban office-based specialty care to non-profit rural facility-based primary care.

In May 2001, Handforth-Kome obtained her masters in organizational management. In July 2001 she moved from an OB/GYN practice in California to a position as executive dDirector for the Iliuliuk Family and Health Services, Inc., in Unalaska. During her time as ED of IFHS, Sonia also served on the board of the Alaska Primary Care Association (and as President of that board for five years), and on the board of the Northwest Regional Primary Care Association (and as a member of the Executive Committee of that board for four years).

Handforth-Kome also volunteered with many community organizations, including the Ballyhoo Lions Club and the Aleutian Arts Council, as well as serving for 11 years on the school board and for 10 years as a yoga instructor for the local community center.

“Sonia brings a wealth of health care experience to our agency including behavioral health. She will be extremely helpful as we work with our partners like HealthPoint on primary care integration at our sites and in primary care clinics like HealthPoint’s new Midway clinic opening this fall,” said Valley Cities CEO Ken Taylor.

For more information about Valley Cities, call 253-833-7444, or visit www.valleycities.org.