It was not all work at the CT Multicultural Health Partnership Annual Meeting held at Water's Edge. Our collective and individual body-mind-spirit balance seeking requires awareness and dedication. Regardless of your views of the Supreme Court Affordable Care Act decision your multiple health identities mandate your intentional loving care.
On a political, governmental and policy basis check out the CT Multicultural Health Partnership. I am honored to serve as of the annual meeting held on Wednesday June 27, 2012 as co-chair of the Communication and Media Committee.
FACEBOOK PHOTO ALBUM
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2012
BRAD PLEBANI, JD, CMHP CHAIRMAN
Brad Plebani is Chair of the Connecticut Multicultural Health Partnership and the Deputy Director at the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc. Mr. Plebani received his B.A. degree from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., his J.D. degree from Brooklyn Law School in New York, and received a Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship through Howard University School of Law and the National Legal Services Corporation. Mr. Plebani is responsible for assisting the Executive Director with personnel, budgetary and organizational issues and in engaging in community outreach efforts with respect to universal health care coverage, health reform and health disparities. He also assists with overseeing the Center's project development and advocacy efforts, including general advocacy and litigation efforts.
For many years, he directed the Center’s day to day legal advocacy efforts and supervised the Center’s legal staff. He has been a frequent lecturer, around the country, to attorneys, paralegals, and other professionals regarding Medicare and related issues. He is co-author of numerous books, articles, and other publications addressing Medicare coverage and appeals issues including the Medicare Handbook (Aspen Publishers, Inc., updated annually). He was a 2010 fellow of the Connecticut Health Foundation’s Leadership Fellows program for the Elimination of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. He is a member of the Board of Cooperators of the Windham Community Memorial Hospital, was a member of the board of directors of the Generations Family Health Center in Willimantic, and served on the Health Disparities and Equity Advisory Committee for Connecticut’s proposed SustiNet health plan. He currently is a commissioner on the Connecticut Commission on Health Equity.
NANCY BERGER, MPH, CMHP PAST CHAIR
Nancy Berger is the founder of the CT Multicultural Health Partnership (CMHP). She served as the first Chairperson and currently serves as Past Chair. At the time of founding the Partnership, she was the Director of the Office of Multicultural Health (OMH) at the CT Department of Public Health. The major priorities of this Office included multicultural health and health disparities. Mrs. Berger was the DPH liaison to the state’s Multicultural Health Advisory Commission, which was established by the state legislature in 1998, and represented DPH and later the CMHP on the Commission on Health Equity established by the legislature in 2009 and replaced the Multicultural Health Advisory Commission.
Nancy has been involved in public health for over three decades. As an employee of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, she has had leadership responsibilities for public health programs that span the life cycle. With public health ‘roots’ in nutrition, she has directed maternal and infant health, child and adolescent health, chronic disease, and health promotion and education programs targeting risk factors (injury, tobacco, nutrition, including WIC, etc.). She has been a champion of a health promotion strategy that integrates multiple risk factors in a dynamic approach to wellness and disease prevention and management. She currently serves as Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Connecticut and in the past was affiliated with the University of Hartford and St. Joseph’s College. Nancy is a longtime member numerous professional, non-profit, and civic organizations where she has been elected to offices and board leadership positions. She has humbly received several awards. She is honored to serve as a steward of the public’s health.
BRENDA DELGADO, MEMBER-AT-LARGE
STACEY L. BROWN, PhD, CO-CHAIR OF AWARENESS & OUTREACH
Dr. Brown serves as the Director of the Community Based Education (CBE) program for the University of Connecticut, School of Medicine. Our program is committed to the principle that patients, health and disease all need to be viewed in the context of social, economic, political and health system factors. As such I collaborate with faculty and community partners to develop and implement curriculum to promote students’ understanding of these relationships, helps them identify and effectively utilize community resources and advocate on behalf of their patients. I also teach Sociology courses at area colleges and am an active member of several community and professional committees.
RASY MAR, CO-CHAIR, AWARENESS & OUTREACH
Rasy Mar currently works at the University of Connecticut Health Center School of Medicine as a Community Based Education Specialist. Prior to joining the School of Medicine, Rasy worked in the Graduate Medical Education in the Residency programs. As a Community Based Education Specialist, Rasy works with faculty and community members to precept and participate in a variety of educational activities that include: health concerns related to the LGBT community cross cultural communication skills and strategies for eliminating health disparities. Rasy serves as a preceptor in the Principles of Clinical Medicine course for second year medical students and is the co-chair of the Awareness & Outreach Committee of CMHP. She helped coordinate and facilitate educational programming on health equity to CT residents, including health care providers, academics, and grassroots community members. As Co-Chair of the Awareness and Outreach Committee, Rasy is committed to engaging community members, health professionals, and students in learning to address health issues. Rasy holds an MPH from the University of Connecticut and a B.A. from Western Connecticut
HEANG KIM TAN, CHAIR, COMMUNICATIONS & MEDIA
SYLVIA GAFFORD-ALEXANDER, CHAIR, CONSUMER INITIATIVES
SARAH DIAMOND PhD, CHAIR, DATA & EVALUATION
Sarah Diamond’s research as an anthropologist aims to eliminate health disparities and improve the social determinants of health, particularly in urban areas. I am an Associate Research Scientist at the University of Connecticut, Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention and Director of Diamond Research Consulting LLC. I specialize in qualitative research methods, community based participatory research (CBPR) and empowerment evaluation using mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative). I have extensive experience designing prevention interventions and program evaluations in collaboration with community partners. I also have experience fostering grassroots community leadership though education, awareness raising and community mobilization towards addressing health disparities. My current research projects are focused on the use of Health Information Technology, and especially eHealth to reduce health disparities and on conducting Health Impact Assessments. I am currently a 2012 Health Leadership Fellow of the CT Health Foundation and am completing a federal program in Health Information Technology. Among other volunteering activities, I am on the Social Media Advisory Board of the CT Health Justice campaign and am a member of the National Consortium on Consumer eHealth.
MARITZA ROSADO, SECRETARY
Maritza Rosado is Director of the Collegiate Health Service Corps, Youth Health Service Corps/AmeriCorps Program and the Medical Interpreter Program at the Eastern Area Health Education Center (AHEC), Inc. Eastern AHEC is a non-profit 5013(c) organization whose purpose is to engage in public and private partnerships that address health disparities in Connecticut. This is accomplished through supporting direct service providers and providing health professionals training and development programs, with the goal of increasing access to high quality care for underserved populations. Much of Rosado’s work is dedicated to eliminating health disparities among multicultural and multilingual populations by managing programs that recruit and train future health care professionals as culturally competent practitioners, training health care staff as medical interpreters and the professional development of health care professionals working with limited and non-English speaking peoples; and participating in local and national efforts to promote health equity.
Before joining Eastern AHEC in 2006, Rosado worked on several grant projects at the Naugatuck Valley Health District, including the coordinator of the Immunization Action Program (IAP). Rosado’s responsibilities have included management and implementation of Connecticut’s immunization program on a local level as well as facilitating continuing education and professional development for health professionals. In 2006, the Connecticut Department of Public Health recognized Rosado’s efforts in creating the most improved immunization program in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In August, 2000, Rosado earned a bachelor’s degree in public health with a specialty in health promotion from Southern Connecticut State University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health at the University of Connecticut. Rosado is a bilingual and bicultural individual who grew up in an inner-city, my family that has personally experienced health care disparities. These experiences gave her the desire to play a role in eliminating health disparities through a career in public health. When not on the job or with her family, Rosado is active in several community organizations.
LYNN CHARBONNEAU, CO-CHAIR, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Ms. Charbonneau is the co-chair of the Professional Development Committee of the CMHP and is an active member of the executive committee. She has 36 years of diverse hospital experience but most recently her work has centered around language services, cultural competency and leadership development to insure that patients and their families in an acute setting get the services they need and reduce health disparities due to language, race and ethnicity. Lynn joined the partnership in its infancy and has been a driving force to move the work forward. Lynn has a BS from Quinnipiac University in Health Management and an MBA from Rennsaelaer Polytechnic Institute. She lives in Northford with her husband Ken and their dog Stella.
MICHELL G. LANDRY, CO-CHAIR, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Michelle G. Landry is the Career Development Programs Manager for Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London, Connecticut where she serves as an internal academic advisor for their 2500 employees as well as provides such services to those within the community seeking career advice and or information on healthcare career options. Ms. Landry in her role has created many partnerships with schools, colleges and universities in CT and serves on many advisory committees with these institutions to help development a healthcare workforce of tomorrow with the youth of today. She brings to her job 20 years of hospital/healthcare workforce experience in which she has held positions in several capacities. She has experience in compliance, quality assurance, cultural competency, and healthcare management and administration.
Ms. Landry has lived most of her life in CT where she has complimented her healthcare career by working as an Academic Advisor for Albertus Magnus College in New Haven Connecticut in the New Dimension Accelerated Adult Degree Program. Ms. Landry holds certifications as a Global Career Development Facilitator and in Change & Transition Management and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Masters of Art in Professional Development. She serves as the co-chair of the Professional Development Committee for the CT Multicultural Health Partnership, on the Subcommittee for Diversity and Cultural Competence through CHA, the Vice-Chair on the Board of Directors for the Eastern CT Workforce Investment Board as well as co-chair of the Youth council for EWIB.
CATHERINE WAGNER, Ed.D. PROJECT MANAGER
Catherine Wagner is the Executive Director of Eastern CT Area Health Education Center (AHEC) Program, Catherine has been in the position or 10 years. Under her leadership, Eastern AHEC, Inc is an Authorized Provider of the International Association Continuing Education and Training, providing the only accredited Medical Interpreter Course in the nation. The Medical Interpreter Training Program provides basic and advanced courses for qualified medical interpreters and provides continuing education credits for health care professionals and public health administrators in the fields of public health and health care.
Catherine also developed the Collegiate Health Service Corps Program recruiting and training diverse student populations to work in the healthcare field with the underlying goal toward the elimination of health disparities. The CHSC received the Community Service Award by the CT State Department of Higher Education 2009 and was recently selected by the National Health Service Corps as the college level service learning program to be instituted nationwide (www.easternctahec.org). Catherine is one of the founders and creator of the Connecticut Multicultural Health Partnership and the Chair of its Professional Development Committee. She received the Excellence in Leadership Award by the State Department of Public Health for her work with the Partnership (www.ctmhp.org).
Other Work Experience includes the development and implementation of policies and procedures for residential treatment centers; extensive recruitment, training and team building of staff to run newly created treatment programs for quasi-governmental agencies; developed the statewide treatment model for women and their children based on the Continuum of Care and the Connecticut Client Placement Criteria; staff training through developing and implementing curriculum approved by the CT Drug and Alcohol Counselor Certification Board. Dr. Wagner is a consultant to the Connecticut State Medical Society developing and delivering CME programs for physicians in providing culturally competent healthcare and volunteers with Mission des Cayes, Les Cayes, Haiti.
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