El Rio welcomes a new COO

TUCSON (KVOA) – Damone “DL” Poole, will be joining El Rio Health as the new Chief Operations Officer (COO) beginning March 27, 2023.

“I am honored to be joining El Rio, where I am committed to successfully working with El Rio’s staff in making a lasting difference in our patient’s lives,” said Poole.

 Poole comes to El Rio from LifeLong Medical, a large Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Poole began with LifeLong in the role of Chief Administrative Officer in January 2015 after serving as a member of LifeLong Medical Care’s Board of Directors for three years.

He took on the position of LifeLong’s COO in August 2020. A critical focus of his work has been on improving both the patient experience and staff satisfaction.

Poole has more than twenty years of experience in healthcare administration and services. He has also practiced as a licensed Physician Assistant for Kaiser Permanente and in private practice.

Poole earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Public Administration in healthcare from California State University, Hayward.

Read more at kvoa.com