With 17 years of experience in the healthcare sector, Jason Zibart is a passionate leader committed to advancing public health and health outcomes in Arizona. His career began at the bedside in a skilled nursing facility, where he gained invaluable insight into patient care and ageing as a certified nursing assistant. He continued his bedside work as a patient care technician at Tucson Medical Center (TMC). While working nights and weekends at TMC he earned his Bachelor of Public Health from Kent State University with the goal of helping patients avoid preventable hospital admissions.

After graduation Jason played a pivotal role in TMC’s outpatient quality department, where he designed and implemented an integrated behavioral health program under the AHCCCS Targeted Investments program. This experience honed his skills in developing impactful community health initiatives and fostering collaboration among healthcare professionals and community stakeholders to improve long-term health outcomes.

Currently serving as the Director of Community Health & Engagement at Benson Hospital TMC Healthcare, Jason has focused on integrating public health approaches into southeastern Arizona’s healthcare systems. This has included creating telehealth/visiting specialist programs to reduce patient access to care and transportation insecurity issues, a diaper bank, programs to fight vaccine hesitancy, programs to address food insecurity including creating local farmers markets and building a HRSA funded rural hospital network to improve patient continuity of care and health outcomes. He is actively pursuing his Master of Public Health, to further enhance his expertise and capacity to drive change.Jason’s contributions to improving patient and community health have not gone unnoticed; he received Arizona’s Community Star Award from the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health in 2020 and the Exceptional Rural Healthcare Professional of the Year award by the Arizona Rural Health Association in 2022. In 2024, he was honored as the University of Arizona Extensionist of the Year and was selected as one of the year’s Flinn-Brown Fellows.

Active Affiliations:

• Arizona Community Foundation (Cochise) Advisory Board member
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension (Cochise) Advisory Board member
• Arizona Public Health Association Board of Directors
• Flinn-Brown Fellow
• Civic Health Fellow

Interests:

Volunteering, reading, Tai Chi, spending time with family, exploring the amazing food options in Tucson.