Meet our Team: Julie Haywood, Volunteer
PHLP recently welcomed a new volunteer to our team! Julie Haywood is a retired attorney with more than 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She brings her wealth of experience and expertise to PHLP as a volunteer in our Philadelphia office.
Julie hit the ground running this summer when she began assisting our intake team, welcoming new PHLP clients seeking legal services on our toll free Helpline. She also brings her expertise to PHLP's pooled income trust practice by helping clients in need of in-home care establish eligibility for Home and Community Based Waivers.
We recently sat down with Julie to learn more about her life, career, hobbies, and a few fun facts:
Where do you live? Wyncote, PA in Cheltenham Township
Tell us about your family: I am married to PA State Senator Art Haywood and have three adult children (Arthur, Olivia, and Alexandra).
What did you do before retiring?: Before retiring in January 2021, I practiced health law for over 30 years, most recently as Associate Deputy General Counsel at Independence Blue Cross in the areas of Privacy/Security, provider contracting, credentialing, and complex regulatory compliance.
What attracted you to PHLP’s mission?: After retiring, I was looking for ways to make a difference. In the fall of last year, I started a Certificate program in Global Health with Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Through some of the public health coursework and volunteering with the Black Doctors Consortium during and after the COVID-19 pandemic I gained a better perspective on the lack of access to and equity in health care. PHLP’s mission “to help people in need get the healthcare they deserve” is at the core of providing equitable access to healthcare in this country. PHLP’s mission really resonated with me as I was looking for ways to combine my health law experience and public health interests to make a difference.
What are you most looking forward to in your work with PHLP?: Helping, even in a small way, to get health care services to those in need and for which they are entitled. As a volunteer, I assist in intake for clients who call on PHLP’s Helpline. Although I am still learning Legal Server, I am struck by the complexities and morass of requirements our clients must navigate to receive healthcare they need. While PHLP’s clients need the assistance of an attorney to obtain the services to which they are entitled I feel fortunate to play a small role in making this possible.
Other volunteer work/hobbies: Board member of our township school board, library board and board member of a non-profit organization in New Jersey serving victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. I also serve on the Scholarship and Feeding the Hungry Ministries of Salem Baptist church. Currently, I am in training as a volunteer with the Disaster Action Team of the American Red Cross. I look forward to helping individuals and families during and after a natural disaster. At any given time, you will find me with a book, magazine or audio book as I am an avid reader and member of a monthly book club.
What is your personal motto or mantra?: “To whom much is given, much is expected” (Luke 12:48) and “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give” (Norman MacEwan).
Share a fun fact about yourself: I played varsity lacrosse all four years in college. At that time women were not recruited or given scholarships for playing college sports. So, I was one of many women who tried out and walked onto the lacrosse team in college.
