DL Poole

Damone “DL” Poole, will be joining El Rio Health as the new COO beginning Mar. 27. Poole comes to El Rio from LifeLong Medical, a large Federally Qualified Health Center serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area. He 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 as LifeLong’s COO in August 2020. A critical focus of his work has been around improving both the patient experience and staff satisfaction.

“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. “Leaning on my years of healthcare administrative, operational, and clinical experience, I’m excited to help build on El Rio’s past successes.”                 

Poole has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare administration and services. Before joining LifeLong, he served as the regional senior executive director for Core Healthcare, an operator of skilled nursing facilities throughout Northern California. Other previous roles include executive director/associate medical director for two skilled nursing facilities, San Pablo Healthcare & Wellness Center and Vale Healthcare Center. He has also practiced as a licensed physician assistant for Kaiser Permanente and in private practice.

He earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public administration in healthcare from California State University, Hayward. He also earned a PA certification from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from the University of San Francisco.

“I am looking forward to help shape an era of comprehensive, accessible, affordable, quality and compassionate healthcare with long-lasting benefits to El Rio’s patients, staff and communities in Tucson, Arizona,” Poole said.