Patient Advisory Council
The Patient Advisory Council is a highly engaged group of volunteers who live with chronic diseases and serve as the patient voice within the Chronic Disease Coalition.
As a standing body, their mission is to provide strategic advice, advocacy insights, and patient-centered perspectives to support the Coalition’s efforts to influence policy and drive healthcare reform by raising the patient voice in policymaking. Council members also play an important role in representing the Coalition with other organizations, individuals and policymakers at the state and federal level.
Staff
Mary Kay Clunies-Ross
Executive Director
Mary Kay Clunies-Ross has been working to inform and engage the public for more than 20 years-- a mission she continues as Executive Director of the Chronic Disease Coalition.
Prior to being the CDC's executive director and a communication consultant, Mary Kay served as the Vice President for Membership and Communications at the Washington State Hospital Association. In that role, she was the chief media spokesperson and communication strategist, crafting non-partisan messages on complex health care and political issues. She also advised WSHA members on message, worked in coalitions, and was responsible for member education and engagement.
Prior to WSHA, Mary Kay daily managed local and national media as the spokesperson for the City of Berkeley (Calif.) and was the Public Information Officer for more than a dozen City departments. She also served on the communication team of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.
Mary Kay has a Bachelor’s in Political Science from Seattle University and Master’s in Journalism from Northwestern in Chicago.