Peak Performer: Gareth Patterson

Gareth currently serves as our marketing contact for the oral health team under The Center for Children’s Health. Gareth has become one of our biggest champions for oral health and is always willing to step in to provide guidance and support. He often advocates and recommends the need to include oral health messaging, stories, concepts, etc., with many of his colleagues when reviewing upcoming projects. Gareth goes above and beyond to help us to take care of the most vulnerable individuals in our community – our children.

Children in low-income families tend to have higher rates of tooth decay and have greater difficulty accessing ongoing basic dental care. In the last community health needs assessment conducted by Cook Children’s, parents named oral health as one of the most important community needs to address, also noting that oral health services are one of the most difficult and expensive services to access. It is critically important for these families to have easier access to resources and support to remove barriers and improve the health and well-being of children.

Without a doubt, Gareth needs to be recognized for his wonderful work ethic, compassion and dedication to excellence. Gareth has worked tirelessly with the staff from our oral health team for the past several months, to support an oral health campaign around National Children’s Dental Health Month in February. Something that was not even on his radar, but he embraced it and helped us carry it throughout our system. The mouth has been disconnected from the rest of the body for far too long and I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to work alongside Gareth to connect the dots and the mouth to the rest of the body in order to improve the overall health of children in our community.