A new “patient advocacy” organization, Patients Come First, today announced it has launched in California, Missouri, and New Jersey.
The group also announced executive directors in each state.
The PCF website says it will “strive to put patients at the forefront of healthcare” through “advocacy, science, education, and collaboration” on issues including prescription drug payments and discounts, co-pay assistance, government drug price negotiations, and the federal 340b drug discount program, among others.
The California executive director will be Julie Gill Shuffield, founded of public affairs firm, Sutter Buttes Advisors. Gill Shuffield founded Power of 100 Sutter Buttes Basin, a charitable community women's group. She was named Woman of the Year by U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Fairfield) in 2019. Gill Shuffield also previously worked as director of regulatory and government affairs at AES Corporation and in external affairs for California ISO.
Former Associated Press (AP) reporter Connie Farrow will be the Missouri executive director. She worked as an AP reporter in Kansas City from 1993 to 2005. She also worked as the communications director for Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, and was a Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow from 2012-2013.
In New Jersey, the executive director is longtime communications professional Jeannette Hoffman. In addition to running a public affairs firm, Marathon Public Affairs, Hoffman previously worked as vice president of government affairs and communications for The Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey. She also previously worked as an aide to former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R-N.J.).
