Advocacy
The Government Affairs & Advocacy Department is the voice of Sun River Health before federal, state, and local policymakers. We translate the daily realities of our health centers into the policy conversations that shape healthcare access across New York State.
As the largest Federally Qualified Health Center network in New York, Sun River Health serves hundreds of thousands of patients across the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. Our job is to make sure the people who write the laws, set the budgets, and administer the programs understand what that means.
What We Do
We work every day to protect and expand access to care for the patients and communities Sun River Health serves. That work takes many forms:
- Federal advocacy before Congress and the administration on the issues that shape our patients' coverage and our health centers' sustainability.
- State legislative advocacy in Albany, where we champion the priorities that keep New York's community health centers strong.
- Local and county engagement across every jurisdiction we operate in, building the relationships that keep our health centers connected to the communities they serve.
- Coalition building with hospitals, health systems, and fellow community health centers to amplify our collective voice.
- Strategic communications that tell Sun River Health's story in a way that moves decision makers to act.
Why We Do It
Because policy is patient care. A decision in Albany, a vote in Washington, a conversation at the county level: each of these shapes whether a patient can see their provider, whether a health center can keep its doors open, whether an underserved community has somewhere to turn.
Our patients are often the people most affected by policy changes and least represented in the rooms where those changes are made. Advocacy is how Sun River Health shows up in those rooms on their behalf.
Advocacy Is a Team Sport
Here's the most important thing to know: advocacy at Sun River Health is not confined to one department. Every single member of the Sun River Health team is an advocate, whether you realize it or not.
- The medical assistant who greets a patient by name is advocating for dignified care.
- The provider who stays late to finish a chart is advocating for quality.
- The site administrator who keeps operations running is advocating for access.
- The billing specialist, the outreach worker, the behavioral health clinician, the pharmacist, and the front desk staff all generate the stories, the data, and the lived experience that make our advocacy credible and powerful.
When we tell an elected official what Sun River Health means to a community, that story comes from you. When we show policymakers the value our health centers deliver, those numbers come from your work. When we stand before any audience and say community health centers are essential, we are standing on the shoulders of every staff member who shows up for our patients every day.
This intranet site is where you'll find the tools to join us more formally, including action alerts, talking points, site visit opportunities, and updates on the work our team is doing. We invite you to use it, share it, and reach out whenever you want to get more involved.
Advocacy is how Sun River Health protects its mission. And the mission belongs to all of us.
Meet the Team
Anne
Anne Kauffman Nolon, MPH has provided vision and leadership to Sun River Health as Chief Executive Officer for over 40 years. She is responsible for guiding the growth and development of one of the largest networks of community health centers in New York State from a single primary care site in Peekskill to a network of over 40 directly operated Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) throughout the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island; additional health centers through sub-recipient agreements, including health centers serving the developmentally disabled; mobile health center vans; and a regional migrant voucher program serving an 11-county agricultural region in southeastern New York State. Mrs. Nolon was named a Geiger Gibson Distinguished Visitor in Community Health Policy at the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services where she focused on health care policy for improving access to care for migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and was also appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to the National Advisory Council on Migrant Health for four years. She has been a member of the CHCANYS Board of Directors since the organization’s inception and now serves as Chair of the Fundraising Committee. Among her many awards and honors, she was inducted into the NACHC Grassroots Advocacy Hall of Fame in 2015. Mrs. Nolon received her Master’s Degree in Public Health from Columbia University and her Bachelor of Science in Health Policy and Planning from the Pennsylvania State University.
Ernest S. Klepeis
Chief of Government Affairs
and Advocacy
As Chief of Government Affairs and Advocacy, Ernest Klepeis oversees Sun River Health's local, state, and federal relationships with elected officials and government agencies across the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island. He directs the organization's advocacy and lobbying strategy, builds coalitions in support of community health center priorities, and represents Sun River Health's strategic interests before decision-makers at every level of government.
Ernest brings over a decade of experience across Congress, New York State government, and electoral politics. He most recently served as Deputy Chief of Staff and District Director for Representative Sean Patrick Maloney in New York's 18th Congressional District, where he managed relationships with more than 200 local and state elected officials, oversaw the facilitation of over $88 million in federal infrastructure and grant investments across the Hudson Valley, and helped drive the standardization of EPA cleanup standards for PFAS/PFOS contamination at the former Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh. He later served as Senior Advisor on Congressman Maloney's 2022 re-election campaign and most recently managed Rob Lubin's 2024 congressional campaign in New York's 2nd District on Long Island. Earlier in his career, Ernest was Deputy Commissioner of the Ulster County Board of Elections, managed statewide field operations for the New York State Democratic Committee in the Hudson Valley, and served as an elected member of the Rosendale Town Council.
João Faustino
Associate Vice-President,
Government Affairs and Advocacy
João is the AVP of Government Affairs and Advocacy at Sun River Health, managing local, federal, and state-level interactions with elected officials throughout the Hudson Valley and Long Island. João first came to Sun River Health as one of its many uninsured patients, later joining the organization as an Outreach and Enrollment Community Health Worker, enrolling patients and community members into the various insurance programs available through the New York State of Health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act. João went on to coordinate the ACA insurance enrollment organization-wide before joining the U.S. Army as a Combat Medic Specialist, where he was stationed at Ft. Meade, Maryland.
After fulfilling his active-duty contract, João returned to New York and Sun River Health. Having seen firsthand the contrasting worlds of those without insurance and the all-inclusive benefits afforded military members, João became passionate in bridging that gap and providing health care for all. It is with that ethos that João advocates for Sun River Health, its patients, and the community at large. João received his MSHA from Fordham University and currently serves in the New York National Guard's 53rd Theater Liaison Detachment.
Laura O'Doherty
Executive Project Assistant
Government Affairs and Advocacy
Laura O’Doherty is the Executive Project Assistant for Government Affairs & Advocacy at Sun River Health, where she supports strategic policy initiatives and legislative engagement efforts to advance access to care for underserved communities. She plays a key role in elevating patient voices in support of Medicaid, working directly with patients to bring their lived experiences to life and underscore the importance of protecting and sustaining Medicaid funding. With nearly a decade of experience spanning healthcare administration and project management, Laura has led complex real estate, construction, and operational initiatives through her work with the Chief Administrative Office at Sun River Health, including the renovation and buildout of new health centers across the New York region. She is highly skilled in building and sustaining relationships with community leaders, stakeholders, and policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels, and brings a practical, systems-level perspective that bridges policy and implementation.
Laura earned her Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University in Political Science, Business, and Italian Studies and is a native Spanish speaker. She also completed two years of Juris Doctor (J.D.) coursework, strengthening her expertise in legal analysis, research, and regulatory interpretation, which she applies across both her policy and operational work.
