TUCSON, Ariz. – Ronald Sorensen, MS, MA, has joined the University of Arizona Department of Family and Community Medicine as executive director of community engagement.
He will provide leadership, strategic direction and executive administrative support to the department’s community outreach programs and activities.
As a member of the department’s executive leadership team, Sorensen will help build and support effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders and collaborate with the leadership team to ensure optimal operations and strategic positioning of the department’s outreach programs.
“We are thrilled that Ron has joined our team,” said Myra Muramoto, MD, MPH, professor and chair, UArizona Department of Family and Community Medicine. “With his impressive work history and expertise, I am confident he will take our department to the next level in community engagement.”
Sorensen previously was the director of community health partnerships at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., where he started an outreach program to serve homeless patients, developed a faith-community nursing program and a community health worker/promoter program. He also brought area hospitals together to collaborate on a community health needs assessment and to address priority health needs within the service area.
Sorensen has extensive experience in program development, strategic and community-based planning, community collaboration, operations and management, grant administration and fund development.
He also has a successful track record of building collaborative relationships in the community with government leaders, health-care providers, competing health systems, nonprofit organizations, social-service agencies, faith institutions, local businesses and educational institutions.
Sorenson worked at California State University at Northridge for more than 20 years, where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in strategic planning, marketing, population health management and health-care management.
He earned a Master of Science in health administration from California State University, Northridge, and a Master of Arts in moral theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.
“I am excited to join the Department of Family and Community Medicine because of its strong commitment to address unmet community needs,” Sorensen said. “The caliber of the programs offered in the community is truly impressive. I look forward to working with stakeholders, both within the university, at Banner Health and throughout Southern Arizona.”
About the University of Arizona Department of Family and Community Medicine
The Department of Family and Community Medicine at the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson is one of the top-ranking family medicine programs in the country. The department is known for outstanding pre- and post-doctoral education, groundbreaking research and innovative community outreach programs designed to improve the health of individuals, families and communities in the region and beyond. The department places strong emphasis on research, particularly in the fields of tobacco cessation, substance abuse, obesity and related diseases, cancer survivorship, behavioral health and disabilities, and Native American and Latino health.