Patient Advocate

On occasion, our patients don’t receive the services they are anticipating or want to provide feedback regarding the care they receive. A medical care system is very complex and sometimes navigating it may be daunting. To help assist our patients, we have created a patient advocate system to reach out to our patients who are having difficulties securing the services they need. Our patient advocate team is here to help and can be reached at any of our locations. Our team consists of the following members:

Joni Notah

Joni Notah is the Patient Advocate Coordinator for the Customer Services Department at Gila River Health Care (GRHC.) She is a GRIC community member from District 3. Joni has been with GRHC for 9 years. Her role as a Patient Advocate Coordinator is to provide oversight and administration of Gila River Health Care’s Patient Advocate Program, which is a program to provide Patient Advocacy to patients and their families. She has 3 children ages 18, 16, and 5 years old. Outside of work, Joni enjoys spending time with her family, baking, shopping, and reading a good book.

Valerie Barron

Valerie Barron is a Patient Advocate for the Customer Service Department at Gila River Health Care. She was born and raised in the City of Eloy, Arizona and is a proud member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Tucson, AZ. Valerie is very passionate about her position as a Patient Advocate as she is able to help and support her fellow tribal members to receive the compassionate and considerate care they deserve. Valerie stated that she feels blessed and grateful for the opportunity to help you in your health care needs.