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A New Outlook

Will Dean

A New Outlook

For Desert Healthcare District and Foundation Director of Communications and Marketing Will Dean, it’s all about showing up.

Words by Daniel Hirsch • Photos by Lani Garfield 

As seen in Issue 4 of DAP Health Magazine

Will Dean knows how to deliver a message to people. “It’s about meeting people where they are, whether that’s in their actual workplace, like the farm fields, or in their churches,” he says. 

Meeting People Where They Are

As director of communications and marketing for the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation, Dean’s job is to raise awareness about the efforts of the District’s partners to equitably advance health and wellness throughout the Coachella Valley.

For him, meeting people where they are takes many forms. It’s in standard communications work: relaunching a website, drafting press releases, updating social media. Or it could mean promoting farmside mobile clinics to ensure agricultural workers have access to vaccines, as Dean did for the District throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Communication as Key to Healthcare Access

As Dean explains, health care access relies on communication — about what people needing care understand about their resources, and about what providers are able to hear from prospective patients. “Not everyone has the same opportunity to access care. There are barriers that people face, such as language barriers or lack of transportation,” he says. “Listening to people and their stories is so important to understanding why they may not seek care.”

Advocating for Equal Access

Dean’s ability to communicate on behalf of health care campaigns has benefited DAP Health. Since 1999, the nonprofit has received $3.5 million from the District’s grant program. This funding has supported everything from efforts to computerize patient records to running an HIV-testing van parked outside of gay bars.

According to former District CEO Dr. Conrado Bárzaga, Dean effectively advocates for equal access to health care because he’s committed to hearing directly from the people that benefit from it.

“He goes to the homeless encampment where we’re serving those community members… It really enhances the work, to tell the stories from a very truthful perspective,” says Bárzaga. “He’s someone who is always looking to do what’s right, to communicate in a very sensitive manner the importance of bringing equity to the distribution of health care.”

From Journalism to Healthcare Advocacy

Dean’s sensitivity for reaching people comes from a decades-long career as a journalist. It may also come from the acute understanding of the experience of not always being the recipient of the stories and media that one might want or need.

Growing up in the 1970s in Hardinsburg, Kentucky — a rural county seat with a population of roughly 2,000 people — Dean was a voracious magazine reader. He’d read anything he could grab, from Reader’s Digest to TV Guide. But as a young Black person who knew he was gay from an early age, Dean would rarely see himself reflected in the media he consumed. Copies of Jet and Ebony provided what Dean describes as “a variety of examples of Black excellence and possibility,” but finding Black LGBTQ+ stories proved harder.

The eye for good writing and deep appreciation for meaningful representation stayed with Dean throughout his journalism career, starting in his 20s at the Park City Daily News in Bowling Green, Kentucky and working for papers like the Savannah Morning News. 

After a mid-career Knight Fellowship at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Dean landed in Palm Springs for a community editor role at Gannett daily The Desert Sun. There, he fulfilled a dream he’d had ever since he was that magazine-devouring boy: running a magazine all his own. From 2012 to 2018, he edited Desert Outlook, a monthly LGBTQ+ publication published by his employer.

“It came about because our then executive editor, Greg Burton, called all the editors into a meeting and asked us if we thought an LGBTQ+ publication would work here,” says Dean. “And, if I recall correctly, everyone said no — except me.”

Starting in 2012, Dean ran Desert Outlook with a passionate meticulousness, leading a small team of writers and designers. The monthly printed stories on same-sex marriage and the migration of HIV patients to the desert. Dean fondly remembers interviewing actor Cheyenne Jackson, who gave Dean an equally memorable muscle-bound hug. It was a public-facing role that had Dean attending events multiple times a week— restaurant openings, political gatherings, theatre premieres, and more. 

“He had high standards, and he was very conscientious about basically everything he did,” says Michael Jortner, an Outlook contributor and longtime friend of Dean. “He would be on every photo shoot to make sure it was as close to what he was looking for. And it was the same with the writers.” 

Transition to Healthcare Leadership

After Outlook published its last issue in May 2018, Dean didn’t stop to rest. He started work at the District that June. He filled a position that has made great use of his journalism skills and editorial eye, overseeing the publication of the District’s first history book — telling the story of how the foundation formed in 1948 to build Palm Springs’ first hospital, only to grow to grant $80 million to local health care nonprofits. Working with Riverside University Health System, Dean is poised to launch a public health campaign about harm reduction related to fentanyl overdosing.

The demands of Desert Outlook and the District pushed Dean to take a “social hibernation” from the arts, culture, and community events that have so defined his time in Palm Springs. (Dean has also been on the boards of various organizations, such as Dezart Performs and Brothers of the Desert.) It’s a slow-down that Dean says he’s newly emerging from. Recently, he’s worked on his own writing projects, such as contributing a profile of jazz drummer Daniel “Big Black” Ray to Palm Springs Life.

Embracing Diversity and Inclusion

Dean is also launching a new, roving social club called The Mix Palm Springs, which focuses on fostering and celebrating diversity in social spaces. A recent summer camp-themed event at resto bar Reforma featured the lawn game cornhole (AKA bean bag toss) and s’mores. “It’s highly curated at the moment,” says Dean of this new venture, which is currently open by invitation only. “But that’s also part of ensuring that people know it’s a safe, welcoming space.”

Attention to detail. Respecting people’s needs. Showing up. All in a day’s work for Will Dean.

Desert AIDS Walk October 22 Ruth Hardy P …

The 30th Annual Desert AIDS Walk

PALM SPRINGS, CA (October 13, 2016) – In 1987, former First Lady Betty Ford, actor Kirk Douglas and his wife Ann lead the first steps of the Desert AIDS Walk. On October 22 over 2,000 community members will unite in Ruth Hardy Park to walk in the 30th Desert AIDS Walk in support Desert AIDS Project, presented by Desert Regional Medical Center.

Desert AIDS Project has grown from a small group of volunteers who founded D.A.P. in 1984 to one of the most comprehensive and respected AIDS service providers in the country. In the past 12 months, individuals seeking care at D.A.P has grown by an astounding 65%. 50 new patients walk thru the door every month.

This year’s walk events begin at 8 am on Saturday, October 22 in Ruth Hardy Park. DJ JC DiStefano will energize the park while walkers sign-in and explore the Health & Wellness Festival featuring over 40 vendor booths and a kids activity zone. The main stage will be emceed by 2016 Queen of the Desert, Tommi Rose and 2016 Queen of the Desert Fan Favorite Pinkie Meringue Shimmer.

Prior to stepping off on the walk, which follows a 2.5 mile route through downtown Palm Springs, walkers will enjoy live entertainment from headliner Pepper Mashay and local talent Marina MacDesert Winds Freedom Band will perform along Palm Canyon Drive as walkers pass by.

Congressman Raul Ruiz and Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon lead the group of distinguished community leaders and D.A.P. partners making remarks prior to the walk stepping off at 9:30am. Joining them will be Desert AIDS Project CEO David Brinkman, D.A.P. Board Chair Steve Kaufer Carolyn Caldwell, CEO of Desert Regional Medical Center, presenting sponsor of the 2016 Desert AIDS Walk.

 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

8:00    DJ welcomes walkers with energizing music.
Breakfast courtesy of Koffi

Health & Wellness Festival opens

8:30     David Brinkman, CEO Desert AIDS Project

Steve Kaufer, D.A.P. Board Chair

8:35     Robert Moon, Mayor Palm Springs

8:40     Raul Ruiz, Congressman

Carolynn Caldwell, CEO Desert Regional Medical Center

8:45     Urban Yoga Warm-Up

Marina Mac Performs

9:00     Pepper Mashay Performs

9:30     Walkers Step Off

10:30   Walkers Return to Park | Health & Wellness Festival | Live Performances Continue

Gay Mens Chorus Performs

Marina Mac Performs

Pepper Mashay Performs


2016 Desert AIDS Walk Sponsors

Presented by Desert Regional Medical Center.

Major sponsors: Grace Helen Spearman Foundation, Gilead, Wells Fargo, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Eisenhower Medical Center, City of Palm Springs, MDVIP, The Desert Sun, KMIR, Desert Oasis Healthcare.

Other Sponsors include: Revivals, Jus Chillin, Koffi, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Zin American Bistro, United Way of the Desert, VIP Mobile Suites, The Standard Magazine, Gay Desert Guide, and CV Independent

About Desert AIDS Project

Desert AIDS Project (D.A.P.) serves our community with primary and HIV-specialty services, including medical care, case management, and social services, including food, housing, and counseling. D.A.P. also provides HIV prevention education and free and confidential HIV testing at dozens of community test sites and events through its Get Tested Coachella Valley campaign. They also offer The DOCK, a sexual health clinic, whose services include STD testing and treatment; PEP & PrEP education and referral to treatment; free and confidential HIV testing; and well woman exams. With new advances in treatment, improved access to care through health reform and new prevention technology, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), D.A.P. is committed to bringing the HIV epidemic to an end.

About Pepper Mashay

Pepper MaShay exploded on the dance scene in the summer of 2000 with her mega smash hit “Dive in the Pool” (the un-official theme song from Showtime’s Queer As Folk & best described as the “It’s Raining Men” of the 21st Century).

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New, more convenient hours at The DOCK!

Staying in control of your sexual health just got a whole lot easier!

The DOCK, a sexual health clinic staffed by and situated at Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs, has announced a new, more convenient schedule beginning Tuesday, September 6th, the day after Labor Day.

Our new, more convenient schedule hours will make it easier for people to access the care they need – when they need it.

The new hours will be Monday-Friday from 10:00AM to 6:30PM for all services. The new schedule will make it easier for people to access services after work, or even during their lunch break. As an added convenience, patients can walk in, with no appointment necessary.

The DOCK New Hours

“When our patients ask, we listen,” said David Morris, MD, Medical Director of The DOCK. “For sexual health treatment and prevention services, accessibility and convenience aren’t trivial – they’re key to better health outcomes.”

The DOCK provides STD testing and treatment, free and confidential HIV and Hepatitis C testing, and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent the acquisition of HIV.

As the clinic has become better known and more popular, an increasing number of patients and community members have asked the clinic to stay open all day (with no lunch break) and to extend hours into the early evening.

The DOCK is located at 1695 N. Sunrise Way, Palm Springs. Its unique, trademark entryway is via the loading dock ramp on the south side of the Desert AIDS Project building.

For more information, please visit www.thedockclinic.org.