Zepf Center Honored with GRIT Award at 2025 ONEcare Symposium
New Orleans, LA, July 20, 2025 — Alera Health proudly continued its tradition of honoring excellence and resilience by presenting the second annual GRIT Award at the 2025 ONEcare Symposium. Established in 2024 in memory of Jill Lineberger, former Senior Vice President of Alera Health, the GRIT Award recognizes Grit, Resilience, Innovation, and Tenacity in advancing community health.
This year, Zepf Center was named the 2025 GRIT Award recipient in recognition of its dedication to collaborative care and measurable impact within the Ohio Behavioral Healthcare Provider Network (OBHPN). The award celebrates Zepf’s unwavering commitment to delivering trauma-informed, person-centered services and strengthening the broader ONEcare network.
“The GRIT Award is about honoring the organizations that go beyond. Zepf Center embodies what it means to persevere with purpose,” said Mike Rhoades, CEO of Alera Health. “Beth Ayer’s leadership and the Zepf team’s commitment to innovation, equity, and collaboration are exactly the kind of impact we aim to elevate through ONEcare. Their work is a blueprint for what’s possible in community-based care.”
Beth Ayer, who has played a pivotal leadership role within Zepf Center, was specifically nominated for launching an internal peer learning model that has since been visited and adapted by other OBHPN members—fostering cross-agency collaboration and operational excellence.
“I am both humbled and honored to have been selected for this award,” said Ayer. “It’s not often that someone doing behind-the-scenes work at a healthcare facility is recognized, which makes this especially meaningful to me and my team. We take great pride and joy in being associated with a leader like Jill Lineberger and the legacy she left behind.”
“We’ve seen tangible benefits for our clients and a renewed energy in our staff thanks to the work of Beth Ayer,” added Deb Flores, CEO of Zepf Center. “She exemplifies what it means to embody G.R.I.T., and I can think of no one more deserving of this recognition.”
The award was presented by Deb Aldridge, Chief Network Officer at Alera Health, alongside Ed Baga, Vice President of Network Operations, who formally handed the award to Zepf Center on behalf of the organization.
About OBHPN
With over 25 CCBHCs, FQHCs, and other provider organizations in its network, OBHPN provides quality-driven integrated health services to more than 225,000 Ohioans of all ages statewide. OBHPN network providers have a long-standing historical presence in 66 Ohio counties. OBHPN network providers provide services to greater than half of the state’s population of persons with severe and persistent mental illness as well as acting as the safety net for people who suffer from co-morbid behavioral health and medical conditions. OBHPN provides a full continuum of mental health, substance use disorder, physical health, and social care services in a variety of outpatient, crisis, residential, and inpatient settings. Ohioans in need of behavioral health and/or medical care can expect compassionate, timely, and coordinated access to the highest quality evidence-based care from OBHPN. Learn more at www.obhpnetwork.com.
About Zepf Center
Celebrating over 50 years of care, Zepf Center is dedicated to creating hope and recovery through integrated, trauma-informed, person-centered services. With a rich history of helping those in need, we offer behavioral health and vocational services to youth and adults throughout Northwest Ohio. By employing purposeful programs, Zepf Center empowers clients and provides a high level of care at every stage of recovery.
About Alera Health
Alera Health, a national leader in population health management and integrated care, works closely with healthcare payers, providers, and community partners to operationalize and manage high-performance ONEcare networks delivering comprehensive, inclusive, and informed whole-person care designed to improve health outcomes and reduce costs. Alera Health has extensive operational expertise in developing clinically integrated networks, population health analytics, care coordination technologies, and clinical quality improvement programs. Each ONEcare network is augmented by the Care Optimization Suite, which allows for real-time communication, referrals, and mobile patient engagement. With over 4 million managed lives across the US, ONEcare networks share resources and evidence-based practices to divert over 300,000 inpatient bed days annually while lowering 30-day readmission rates by over 50%. Learn more at www.alerahealth.com
Contact:
Kye Gardner
Title: Executive Director of Corporate Operations & Development
Phone: 1-910-983-2191 SOURCE Alera Health