Note From The Commissioner:
Dear Community Partner,
Monday was the final day of the Maryland
General Assembly. We are excited about several priority bills the legislature passed,
including efforts to ensure affordable access to healthcare, to reduce gun
violence, and to advance maternal and child health. Our team at the Baltimore
City Health Department provided testimony on no less than 27 bills, including
the Maryland Health Care Access Act of 2018 (HB1782/SB387); Pharmacist Gag Rule
Bill (HB736/SB576); Maryland Prenatal and Infant Care Coordination Services
Grant Program Fund (Thrive by Three Fund) (HB1685/SB912); and the Maryland Violence
Intervention and Prevention Program Fund Bill (HB432/SB0545). We are grateful to
our representatives in Annapolis for recognizing the need to fight for health
coverage for all Marylanders, and for standing on the right side of history.
I am thrilled that a number of our
legislative priorities passed during session, and I am proud of my team for
being strong advocates for public health. This week, I had the opportunity to
travel to Atlanta and share lessons about public health advocacy from Baltimore.
At the Beyond Flexner Conference, it
was an honor to join incredible leaders who are melding health professional
work with social justice. There were many highlights of the conference,
including meeting the former Minister of Health of Rwanda, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, and
Morehouse School of Medicine President, Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice.
I also had the opportunity speak at the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was my first time visiting
the CDC, and by invitation of someone I greatly admire, fellow emergency
physician and National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Director Dr.
Debra Houry.
At the Health Department, we are committed
to employing evidence-based interventions and using science to guide policy. This
Saturday, I’ll be speaking at the 2018 March for Science in Washington, D.C., along with dozens of other
scientists and health advocates. I look forward to marching and raising my
voice in support of health as a human right and of science and evidence in
decision-making. If you are in the D.C. area, I hope that you will join me.
Leana Wen,
M.D., M.Sc.
Dr. Wen Participates in Panel Discussion with
Senator Mikulski at Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Public Health Conference
Dr. Wen joined former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and Dean Emeritus Al Sommer (Bloomberg School of Public
Health) for a panel discussion at the John Hopkins Undergraduate Public Health
Conference on Thursday. Dr. Wen and Sen. Mikulski discussed the role of
government in combatting health disparities, and the importance of connecting
health to all things – education, housing, employment, and beyond.
“There’s no
face to public health,” said Dr. Wen. “Nobody will care about public health
unless we make the case for it. We have to talk about our programmatic
successes, and flip the narrative around cities by sharing the stories of our
communities.”
Click here to learn more about Healthy Baltimore 2020.
Dr. Wen Speaks at Beyond Flexner Conference
On Monday, Dr. Wen
spoke at the Beyond Flexner Conference in Atlanta by invitation of Dr. Fitzhugh
Mullan of the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public
Health. Dr. Wen recognized Dr. Mullan’s lifetime of leadership and his
exemplification of what it means to be a leader with “fire in the belly.”
“If the
currency of inequality is years of life, then the opposite of poverty is
health,” said Dr. Wen.
Click here to read the Health Department’s White Paper, which
details the state of health in Baltimore City.
Dr. Wen Gives Keynote Speech at Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Wen gave
the NCIPC Speaker Series’ keynote address on Tuesday by invitation of Dr. Debra
Houry (pictured above), Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, (NCIPC) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Wen outlined
the Health Department’s opioid overdose prevention and treatment work by
highlighting the Health Department’s three-pillar approach: saving lives with
naloxone, increasing access to treatment, and fighting stigma with science. Dr.
Wen shared the Health Department’s innovative initiatives, including the Law
Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program (LEAD) and plans to open a Stabilization
Center.
“We know what
works – medication-assisted treatment combined with psychosocial support and
wraparound services,” said Dr. Wen. “Addiction is a disease, treatment works,
and recovery is possible.”
To learn more
about the Health Department’s opioid work, click here.
Dr. Wen and Special Assistant to the
Commissioner Pen Editorial for American
Journal of Public Health
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Dr. Wen and
Narintohn Luangrath, Special Assistant to the Commissioner of Health, published
an editorial in the American Journal of
Public Health (AJPH) last Friday. The editorial responded to an article in AJPH concerning the role of mayors and
health commissioners in addressing social determinants of health and health
disparities. The original study argued that most mayors and some health
commissioners are unaware of the extent to which city policies can
significantly affect health disparities, and concluded that political ideology
is strongly associated with the study’s survey respondents’ opinions about
health disparities. Pointing to flaws in survey methodology and critiquing the
authors’ interpretation of their findings, Dr. Wen and Ms. Luangrath argue that
the study’s findings actually suggest that the mayors and health commissioners
surveyed understand social determinants of health. Moreover, Dr. Wen and Ms.
Luangrath emphasized the importance of all stakeholders in government and civil
society to be better advocates for public health.
“It is
incumbent upon not only health commissioners but also leaders in academia and
civil society to explicitly draw the connection between health and other
priorities for elected officials. If a mayor campaigned on education, housing,
employment, and safety, all these issues can and should be tied back to
health,” wrote Dr. Wen and Ms. Luangrath.
To read the
full editorial, click here.
Legislative Updates
This week, the Health Department capped another successful effort
advocating on behalf of public health in the Maryland General Assembly, helping
pass several pieces of legislation that will benefit all Baltimore City
residents. This year marked the eighth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act,
and the Health Department worked with legislators and advocacy partners to
protect it from potential federal cuts. A key bill supported by the Health
Department will take tax funds that were to be collected by the federal
government and use them as a “down payment” for individuals in Maryland’s
health benefit exchange, and directs the Maryland Health Insurance Coverage
Protection Commission to study and make recommendations for individual and
group health insurance market stability. The General Assembly also passed a
bill supported by the Health Department to make prescription drug prices more
affordable by eliminating the “gag rule,” which prohibits pharmacists from
recommending cheaper generic versions of prescribed medications. Finally, the
2018 session introduced two new funding streams for Health Department
initiatives. The “Thrive by Three” fund will provide grants to maternal and
child care-coordination programs like B’more for Healthy Babies that support
women and children in areas of concentrated poverty, while the new Gun Violence
Prevention Fund creates a funding stream to support evidence-based or
evidence-informed public health-focused gun violence prevention efforts.
To read more about the ACA protection efforts, HB1782/SB387, click here.
To read more about the pharmacist gag rule, HB736/SB576, click here.
To read more about the Thrive by Three bill, HB1685/SB912, click here.
To read more about the gun violence prevention fund, HB432/SB545, click here.
Chief Epidemiologist
Recognized for Faculty Excellence in Baltimore Public Health Practice by Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Darcy Phelan-Emrick has been
awarded the 2018 Faculty Excellence in Baltimore Public Health Practice by the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Office of Public Health Practice
and Training. The award recognizes both long-term public health practice
achievements as well as shorter, intensive work that yields results.
Dr. Phelan-Emrick has led a multitude of important epidemiological
analyses for the Health Department, including a groundbreaking revision of the
City’s Neighborhood Health Profiles with special attention to social
determinants in health. In addition, she led the creation of the Community
Health Needs Assessment profiles for several hospitals in Baltimore City.
Click here to learn
more about Dr. Phelan-Emrick’s award.
Assistant
Commissioner of Maternal and Child Health and Director of Maternal and Infant
Care System Operations Lead Seminar on Health Equity
Last
Thursday, Rebecca Dineen, Assistant Commissioner of Maternal and Child Health
(MCH), and Stacey Tuck, Director of Maternal and Infant Care System Operations, led a discussion for a graduate seminar on health equity at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The presentation highlighted the
work of the Health Department and the B’more for Healthy Babies initiative to
address health disparities resulting from racism and other social determinants
of health.
Precious Purple
Sunday
On Sunday, April 15, the Health Department will hold its second annual Precious
Purple Sunday, an initiative focused on keeping babies safe and celebrating the
lives of the City’s youngest residents. Precious Purple Sunday is organized by
the Health Department’s B’More for Healthy Babies initiative.
To participate:
1. Wear Purple
2. Turn your Facebook profile picture purple.
3. Post a photo of yourself wearing purple to social media using the
hashtag #PreciousPurpleSunday.
Assistant Commissioner of Bureau of School Health Speaks at National Public Health Week Event
Last week, Francine Childs, Assistant
Commissioner of the Bureau of School Health addressed attendees at the Maryland
Department of Health’s National Public Health Week event, held at the
KIPP Baltimore Academy. The focus of this year’s observance was to promote the
theme: “Healthiest Nation 2030 – Changing the Future Together.” Bureau
of School Health staff members Dr. Ihuoma Emenuga, Joy Twesigye, and Vonita Vaughan also attended the event, which highlighted the contribution of School-Based Health Centers in
improving the health status of school-aged children. Attendees
participated in a number of round-table discussions followed by a tour of the
Rales SBHC at KIPP.
Assistant
Commissioner of Maternal and Child Health Co-Hosts LiveTalk at Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
On Monday, Rebecca Dineen joined Dr. Meredith Matone at the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for LiveTalk: Preventing Infant
Mortality, an online course for public health students. Ms. Dineen
presented the work of B'more for Healthy Babies to students Skyping in from
across the country. In 2009, when Dr. Matone worked as an intern for B'more for
Healthy Babies, she assisted in writing the original review of research on
birth outcomes in Baltimore City.
Sign up for the
Billion Step Challenge, Get the Most Steps, and Win Passes to Medieval Times
 Sign up for the Billion Step Challenge and
enter to win two passes to the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament. The
participant with the most steps from April 9 – April 15 will be awarded the
passes, courtesy of the Health Department.
Health Department Recruiting for Baltimore Corps
Fellows
 Applications
for the Baltimore Corps Fellowship are now available. The Health Department is
looking for new Fellows to join us starting in September 2018. Baltimore Corps
places participants in city government agencies, foundations, and non-profit
and community organizations throughout Baltimore for a yearlong Fellowship.
Baltimore Corps also supports each Fellow through professional development
trainings, individual mentorship, and periodic retreats and seminars. If you
know a recent graduate or young professional interested in joining us at the
Health Department, please send them the application link below.
If you have
any questions about the Baltimore Corps Fellowship, please contact Chief Policy
and Engagement Officer Gabe Auteri at gabriel.auteri@baltimorecity.gov.
Click here for a link to the application.
BCHD in the News
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