Jessica Strom is a nationally recognized healthcare executive, compliance strategist, educator, and consultant whose career reflects an unwavering commitment to strengthening community-based healthcare organizations and improving access to quality care. With more than twenty-five years of progressive experience spanning clinical care, healthcare operations, compliance management, governance, strategic planning, risk management, and executive leadership, she has established herself as a trusted authority in the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) sector. Her professional journey is defined by a rare ability to bridge frontline clinical insight with executive-level strategy, enabling organizations to navigate complex regulatory environments while maintaining a steadfast focus on patient outcomes and community impact.
As the Founder and Principal Consultant of Persiliance Consulting, Jessica partners with healthcare organizations across the United States to design and implement sustainable operational and compliance solutions. Her consulting practice focuses on helping organizations strengthen compliance programs, improve operational performance, enhance governance structures, and achieve readiness for federal and state oversight. Through her work, she empowers healthcare leaders to build resilient organizations capable of adapting to an increasingly complex healthcare landscape while remaining mission-focused and financially responsible.
Jessica’s healthcare career began in 2003 at Hilltown Community Health Centers in rural western Massachusetts. Starting as a Dental Assistant and later becoming a Registered Dental Hygienist, she quickly distinguished herself through her dedication to quality improvement, patient-centered care, and innovation. During her clinical years, she became an early advocate for measuring healthcare quality through outcomes and was actively involved in advancing medical, dental, and behavioral health integration. Her participation in nationally recognized initiatives, including the DentaQuest Early Childhood Caries Collaborative and the National Network for Oral Health Access Dental Dashboard Collaborative, demonstrated both her leadership capabilities and her passion for improving healthcare delivery systems.
Recognizing her aptitude for organizational leadership, Jessica transitioned into healthcare operations, where she steadily advanced through a series of increasingly complex leadership positions. She served as Dental Operations Director, Clinical Operations Manager, and ultimately Chief Operations Officer and Compliance Officer for the Community Health Center of Franklin County. In these roles, she oversaw multiple service lines, including primary care, dental care, behavioral health, community health programs, facilities management, patient services, marketing, transportation, and organizational expansion projects. Her leadership consistently delivered operational excellence while ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations.
Among Jessica’s most notable accomplishments was her leadership of several large-scale healthcare expansion and modernization initiatives. She directed the relocation and consolidation of multiple healthcare facilities, managed multi-million-dollar renovation projects, oversaw the development of new service locations, and led the establishment of innovative care delivery models. One particularly impactful initiative was the creation of an Urgent Dental Care Program housed within a local hospital, funded through a HRSA Oral Health Expansion Grant. The program successfully addressed emergency department diversion by connecting patients with comprehensive oral healthcare services, and it was later recognized nationally as a best-practice model through both the National Network for Oral Health Access and UMass Medical School publications.
Jessica’s leadership was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she played a central role in guiding her organization’s emergency response efforts. She developed and implemented one of the region’s earliest drive-through testing programs and later established community vaccination clinics that expanded into mobile services throughout the region. Simultaneously, she managed operational transitions involving telehealth implementation, remote workforce structures, facility modifications, staffing adjustments, and continuity planning. Her ability to coordinate complex operations during an unprecedented public health crisis reinforced her reputation as a calm, decisive, and solutions-oriented leader.
A hallmark of Jessica’s career has been her expertise in healthcare compliance and risk management. When she assumed responsibility for compliance oversight, her organization lacked a formalized compliance infrastructure. Over the following decade, she designed, implemented, and maintained a comprehensive compliance program that included auditing systems, training initiatives, policy development, risk assessments, emergency preparedness planning, board reporting, and regulatory oversight. Her work ensured alignment with HRSA Health Center Program requirements, Department of Public Health regulations, DEA requirements, FTCA standards, and numerous other federal and state mandates. This experience has positioned her as a highly sought-after consultant and subject matter expert in healthcare compliance.
Beyond operational leadership, Jessica has cultivated significant expertise in governance, strategic planning, and public policy. She has served on influential advisory groups, including the Community Care Cooperative Primary Capitation Advisory Council, which contributed recommendations to the Massachusetts 1115 Medicaid Waiver process, and the Betsy Lehman Center’s Massachusetts Health Care Safety and Quality Consortium Leadership and Governance Task Force. Through these roles, she helped shape policy discussions around healthcare quality, patient safety, leadership effectiveness, and payment reform, extending her influence beyond individual organizations to broader healthcare systems.
Jessica’s dedication to education and professional development is reflected in her role as an Adjunct Professor at Suffolk University’s Moakley Center for Public Management. There, she teaches healthcare compliance, strategic goal implementation, and grant writing to emerging healthcare leaders. She combines practical executive experience with academic rigor, helping students and professionals understand the complexities of healthcare leadership while preparing them to address future industry challenges. Her passion for mentoring and knowledge-sharing continues to inspire the next generation of healthcare administrators and executives.
In addition to her consulting and educational work, Jessica serves as an Operational Site Visitor and Reviewer for the Health Resources and Services Administration through Management Solutions Consulting Group. In this capacity, she evaluates health centers across the nation, assessing compliance with federal program requirements and providing technical assistance to strengthen organizational performance. Her experience as both a healthcare executive and federal reviewer provides a uniquely comprehensive perspective that few professionals possess, enabling her to offer practical, actionable guidance grounded in firsthand experience.
Jessica’s educational achievements further demonstrate her commitment to lifelong learning and leadership excellence. She earned a Master of Public Administration from Suffolk University with a perfect 4.0 GPA, a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene with a Business Management focus, and an Associate of Applied Science in Dental Hygiene. She also completed a Certificate in Community Health and Health Center Management and earned certification as a Healthcare Compliance professional through the Compliance Certification Board. Complementing her healthcare expertise, she completed a Master of Science in Finance, enhancing her ability to evaluate organizational performance through both operational and financial lenses.
Throughout her career, Jessica has remained deeply motivated by mission-driven work and community impact. Her experience spans clinical care, executive leadership, compliance oversight, education, consulting, governance, policy development, and fiscal management, creating an exceptionally broad and valuable perspective. She believes that healthcare organizations achieve their greatest success when operational excellence, regulatory integrity, and compassionate service work together in harmony. This philosophy continues to guide her work as she helps organizations strengthen their foundations, expand their impact, and improve the lives of the communities they serve.
Jessica brings a distinctive combination of executive leadership, healthcare expertise, compliance mastery, financial acumen, and educational influence. Her career reflects not only professional achievement but also a genuine commitment to service, collaboration, and organizational excellence. As a board candidate, advisor, and executive leader, she offers a unique blend of strategic vision, operational discipline, and mission-focused leadership that enables organizations to navigate complexity while pursuing meaningful and sustainable growth.
Character:
Jessica demonstrates integrity through her unwavering commitment to ethical leadership, regulatory accountability, and service to vulnerable populations. She consistently prioritizes mission-driven decision-making while balancing organizational sustainability and community impact. Her career reflects resilience, humility, and a genuine desire to create meaningful improvements in healthcare delivery and access.
Knowledge:
He possesses extensive expertise in healthcare operations, compliance, governance, risk management, strategic planning, and healthcare finance. Her experience as both a healthcare executive and a federal site reviewer provides a uniquely comprehensive understanding of organizational performance and regulatory expectations. She continuously expands her knowledge through advanced education, professional certifications, teaching, consulting, and active participation in healthcare policy initiatives.
Strategic:
Jessica excels at identifying opportunities for organizational growth, operational improvement, and long-term sustainability. She has successfully led major expansion projects, compliance transformations, emergency response initiatives, and innovative care delivery programs that produced measurable results. Her ability to align strategic objectives with mission, regulatory requirements, and financial realities allows organizations to achieve lasting success.
Communication:
A skilled communicator who effectively engages boards, executive teams, regulators, staff, community partners, and students. She translates complex regulatory and operational concepts into practical guidance that drives understanding and action. Her experience as an educator, consultant, executive leader, and public speaker enables her to build trust, foster collaboration, and inspire positive organizational change.
https://www.persilianceconsulting.com
https://www.suffolk.edu/business/
