“Preparing for the Second Wave: Strategies to Provide Care to Vulnerable Populations During the Pandemic”

“Preparing for the Second Wave: Strategies to Provide Care to Vulnerable Populations During the Pandemic”
A Virtual Panel Session Presented by CTAHE
Thursday, October 8, 2020
5:30pm – 6:30pm

Healthcare is known for its ever-changing environment. COVID-19 has tested healthcare in unprecedented ways and has created significant changes in how healthcare organizations will provide care, especially to vulnerable populations. Now is a critical time for organizations to review what has occurred in the last several months and incorporate lessons learned to provide better care for vulnerable populations.

The Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives started this conversation at its 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting. A panel of healthcare leaders experienced in serving vulnerable populations shared best practices, lessons learned, and considerations that healthcare leaders ought to consider. On October 8, the panel will meet again to explore how healthcare organizations can proactively prepare to care for vulnerable populations during challenging times.

Learning Objectives:
1. What are barriers to care for at -risk populations and strategies that organizations have implemented to overcome them.
2. How to engage with executive leadership to fund or put resources towards program re-design efforts.
3. How an organization can support employees who are first contact with a vulnerable patient to help make their access to care less challenging.

This program will be approved for 1.0 hour of ACHE Qualified Education

Registration is complimentary – Click here to save your spot and join us! 

Our Speakers: 

Panelist: Linda Barry, MD, MPH, FACS

Linda K. Barry, M.D., M.P.H, FACS is a board certified liver and pancreas surgeon with a unique background in both clinical and basic science research. As an Associate Professor of Surgery, Dr. Barry practices and teaches at the University of Connecticut Medical School, as well as holds the position of Director of the Office of Multicultural and Community. She previously served as Assistant Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at the University of Connecticut, Co-Director for the CICATS Pilot Program for Collaborative Translational and Clinical Research, Director of the Young Innovative Investigator Program, and Director of the CICATS M1 Mentorship Program.

She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Her research interests focus on leveraging mobile technology to eliminate health disparities. She has successfully obtained NIH grant and extramural funding for her research as well as published several peer-reviewed articles.

Dr. Barry holds a B.A. from Yale University in Psychobiology, a M.D. from Cornell University Medical College and an M.P.H from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Panelist: Maritza Bond, MPH

Maritza Bond currently serves as the Director of Health for the City of New Haven. In this role, Director Bond leads efforts on creating a culture of health and wellness with a focus on addressing social determinants of health and health equity. This includes a commitment to strengthening public-private partnerships; increasing connection between public health and clinical medicine; and implementing an outcome driven approach to program and policy development. Prior to joining the City of New Haven, Bond served as the Director of Health and Social Services for the City of Bridgeport since 2016, where she led initiatives that aimed to promote, prevent, and protect City residents. Under her administration, she led eleven diverse regulatory divisions and social services programs yielding proven results, including, but not limited to, increased revenue and efficiency. Director Bond also launched the Public Health Accreditation process within her first year of appointment.

Director Bond holds a Master’s in Public Health with an MPA certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Connecticut. She earned a B.S. in Public Health with a specialty in health promotion from Southern Connecticut.

Panelist: Tekisha Dwan Everette, PhD

Dr. Tekisha Dwan Everette’s passion for social justice was fueled by her personal experiences and influences as a child. As a youth, she experienced delays in diagnosing asthma, and faced challenges accessing and navigating the health care system. These experiences gave Everette first-hand knowledge of the importance of health and health care access. This, combined with her admiration for social justice trailblazers such as Thurgood Marshall, Barbara Jordan, and Sandra Day O’Connor, inspired Everette to dedicate her life’s work toward eradicating health care inequities through advocacy and policy.

Everette has built a successful career in public policy, particularly health care policy, and advocacy in the non-profit, state, and private sectors. Before taking the helm of Health Equity Solutions (HES), she served as the Managing Director of Federal Government Affairs with the American Diabetes Association, where she provided strategic leadership on policy and advocacy initiatives with the White House, several federal agencies, and Congress, which led to important victories for people with and at risk for diabetes. Prior to this, Everette worked as a government relations consultant with Drinker, Biddle, and Reath, LLC, where she represented the interests of several nonprofit health care organizations on issues such as health reform, Medicare, Medicaid, and federal appropriations. Everette has also worked for the Service Employees International Union, RESI, the State of Maryland, and the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation.

Everette earned her doctorate in Sociology from American University with a concentration in race, gender, and social justice as it relates to social policy.  She received her Master’s of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Center of Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (popularly known as Virginia Tech) and holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Interdisciplinary Studies from the same institution.

Panelist: Sarah S. Lewis, MPH

Ms. Lewis serves as Vice President for Health Equity at Hartford HealthCare. In this role she oversees the creation of the healthcare system’s first health equity department. She is responsible for determining the system’s health equity strategy, and leading its implementation.

Sarah has dedicated her career to serving and working on behalf of vulnerable and marginalized populations. Prior to her arrival at Hartford HealthCare, Sarah was the Vice President for Health System Services at the Greater New York Hospital Association, where she worked on patient safety and healthcare quality programs, healthcare policy development and implementation, and supporting the unique needs of emerging healthcare systems in New York. Sarah’s professional background also includes service in the public sector, working on policy development and strategic communications in the New York State Senate, Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the Office of the Governor; in the not-for-profit sector working on healthcare advocacy and diversity and inclusion; and in the for-profit sector working on corporate social responsibility.

Sarah earned her B.A. in Human Biology, with a concentration in underserved communities, from Stanford University, and her Master in Public Health from Columbia University. She is a graduate of the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, and sits on the board of the Coro New York Leadership Center.

Meet Our Moderator: Tiffany Morrissey, MPH, MA

Tiffany Morrissey currently serves as the Physician Liaison at Bristol Health Medical Group. Prior to that role she spearheaded the development of a 60,000 square foot ambulatory medical care center for Bristol Health. She received her Masters of Arts in Public Policy and Master of Public Health from Stony Brook University.

A strong advocate for public health and women, Tiffany serves on the executive committee of advocacy for the Connecticut Public Health Association and co-chair of the women’s forum for the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives.

Tiffany Morrissey is honored to have been recognized as the 2018 recipient of the Connecticut Regent Early Careerist award and the Leadership/Mentorship award from the Connecticut Association of Healthcare Executives.

Tiffany resides in North Haven CT with her husband and children.