 Dr. Uchenna S. Uchendu, Chief Health Equity Officer for the Veterans Health Administration (left); Dr. Robert L. Jesse, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, VHA (center); and Shane Snowdon, Director of Health and Aging Program at Human Rights Campaign (HRC; right) gather at the 2013 HRC Press Conference with Department of Veterans Affairs on the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Healthcare Equality Index.
VA
Office of Health Equity (OHE) staff are saddened to learn
of the passing of Robert L. Jesse, M.D., Ph.D., who died on Saturday, September 2, 2017. We
remember Dr. Jesse as a trailblazer for health equity.
As Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health (PDUSH), Dr. Jesse ensured
that Veteran health equity issues, and the resources to address them, were a
priority at the VHA. It was through his leadership and continued dedication to
making sure that all Veterans receive optimal care that he created OHE in 2012.
Dr. Jesse initiated measures at the VHA to make health equity a strategic
priority by directly aligning OHE to the Office of the PDUSH and making the role of the OHE Chief
Officer a part of VHA’s senior executive team.
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Dr. Jesse was truly visionary. He understood health equity to be a journey. In 2014, Dr. Jesse wrote the foreword for the record-breaking American Journal of Public Health Supplement on Veteran Health Equity. In his foreword,“Advancing the Elimination of Health Disparities in Veterans Through Quality, Access, and Equity,” he outlined some of the ways that VHA was beginning to advance equity issues. Appropriately, Dr. Jesse closes his piece with sentiments for moving forward to address equity:
… these lessons and those learned along the way will continue to guide us in our obligation and duty to serve veterans and provide them bias-free health care.
Listen to Dr. Jesse discuss unconscious bias in the VHA Providers Explore Unconscious Bias video series created by the OHE.
As staff, we remain committed to this vision of equitable care for our nation’s heroes and for continually improving the VA to best serve all Veterans as Dr. Jesse demonstrated throughout his career.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Robert L. Jesse, M.D., Ph.D.
More information on funeral arrangements for Dr. Jesse are available here.
You can now download the National Veteran Health Equity
Report (NVHER) to your favorite device or tablet. The VA Office of Health Equity has
converted the NVHER into an e-publication (ePUB) to make viewing even more
convenient. The current version has been optimized for viewing on the Apple
iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and viewing in the iBooks App. Please click
here
to learn about other devices that support the file. The full report can still
be downloaded as a PDF to your computer and other PDF-friendly devices.
The NVHER details patterns and provides comparative rates
of health conditions for vulnerable Veteran groups. It is designed to provide
basic comparative information on the sociodemographics, utilization patterns
and rates of diagnosed health conditions among vulnerable Veterans in the VA.
The report allows the VA, Veterans, and stakeholders to monitor the care
vulnerable Veterans receive and set goals for improving their care.
Join the VA Office
of Health Equity for September’s Focus on Health Equity and
Action Cyberseminar session. The session
includes the use of the VA Virtual Medical Center to promote health equity for
Veterans. Presenters will focus on the use of flipped classroom methodologies
to transform traditional training approaches and how virtual training
modalities can advance Veteran selfcare and health promotion for achieving
health equity.
Promoting Health Equity with the Virtual Medical Center
Thursday, September 28, 2017
3:00 – 4:00pm EST
Learning Objectives:
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Understand
how flipped classroom methodologies can transform traditional training
approaches in VA for staff and Veterans;
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Learn
how to advance Veteran self-care and health promotion using a 3D virtual
environment; and
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Increase
awareness of VA examples of these approaches to tackle areas of disparities
among Veterans.
Confirmed Speakers
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Rosalyn P. Scott, MD
Regional Director Specialty Care Center of Innovation (WEST),
Long Beach VA Medical Center
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Uchenna S. Uchendu, MD
Chief Officer, Office of Health Equity, VA Central Office, Washington, DC
Background Resources
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VA Virtual Medical Center. Available online at https://vavmc.com/.
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Scott RP, Uchendu US, Dominquez M. Spectrum of Virtual Patient-Based Decision-Making Simulations Implemented in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Annual Conference, Helsinki, Finland, August 26-30, 2017. Available online - see page 306.
- McLaughlin JE, Roth MT, Glatt DM, Gharkholonarehe N, Davidson CA, Griffin LM, et al. (2014). The Flipped Classroom: A Course Redesign to Foster Learning and Engagement in a Health Professions School. Academic Medicine, 89(2), 236-243. Available online.
Intended Audiences
Researchers, clinicians, care coordinators, policy makers,
educators, Veteran stakeholders and representatives of vulnerable Veteran
groups who are interested in understanding and/or promoting equitable health
among all Veterans.
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