Note from Commissioner Dear Valuable Community Partner, This digest features this week’s exciting news from the Baltimore City Health Department. This spring, conversations across our city are focusing on the state of the economy, public safety, and education. While these are all essential issues, we believe there is another critical topic that cuts across all of them: health. This week, I had the amazing opportunity to represent our city by testifying in front of the U.S. House of Representatives on the innovative efforts being implemented in Baltimore address the opioid abuse epidemic and urged Congress to introduce policies that will improve community-based efforts like ours to end this public health emergency. Meanwhile, on Thursday, BCHD also hosted our inaugural Health Care Briefing and Open House, where we shared our successes and discussed the work we are doing to promote health and well-being with community partners from across the City. By continuing to address our challenges with innovative approaches focused on achieving health equity, we can improve the health of our communities, address the underlying disparities we face, and transform our city into a national model for public health, where all residents can realize their full potential.Thank you for your interest in making Baltimore healthier! With all my best, Leana Wen, M.D. M.Sc. Agency News Dr. Wen Testifies Before the House Oversight Committee On Tuesday Dr. Leana Wen testified before the US House of Representatives Oversight Committee on the nation’s heroin and opioid epidemic. In Baltimore, we recognize that treating addiction as a crime is unscientific, inhumane, and ineffective and know that we must treat addiction as the disease it is and focus on saving lives. During her testimony, Dr. Wen shared the innovative strategies transforming our city into the national model for addiction recovery and urged lawmakers to introduce policies that will improve community-based efforts to end this public health emergency. As part of her recommendations, Dr. Wen called on the House to support the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016 which has already passed the Senate, and called for increased federal funding for opioid addiction and to directly fund the cities with the greatest need. While we have done much in Baltimore City, communities like Baltimore will need further support from the federal government to expand funding for on-demand, evidence-based addiction treatment. We look forward to following-up on this week’s work in D.C. to continue advocating for those combatting this disease that continues to afflict thousands of Baltimoreans and millions across the country. |
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BCHD Hosts Inaugural Open House On Thursday, the Baltimore City Health Department hosted a Health Care Briefing and Open House. The event was open to community partners to showcase our victories as well as outline our strategies for 2016. At the open house, participants had the opportunity to learn more about Bmore for Healthy Babies, youth violence prevention, opioid abuse prevention, behavioral health, chronic disease prevention, senior health wellness, population health and communicable disease. This event was a great opportunity for participants to learn about BCHD and our plans to make Baltimore healthier! |
Welcome to our new Deputy for Aging Services! We are thrilled to announce that the Baltimore City Health Department has a new Deputy Commissioner for Aging and Care Services! After a 6-month search that involved dozens of candidates and many stakeholder interviews, we are happy to say that Ms. Heang Kim Tan will be joining our team! Ms. Tan comes to BCHD with more than a decade in progressive public health leadership positions geared toward mitigating health disparities and promoting health equity. She started as a community health worker, including working with older adults; has a background in refugee health across the country; and most recently spent four years as a director of Health Justice CT, where she led health disparities work and applied her deep content knowledge to reduce the burden of chronic disease and the impact of social isolation. She has experience as a community health outreach worker, organizer, advocate, policy developer, and program manager. We are excited to bring her thoughtfulness, management experience; passion for older adults; and inclusive vision to BCHD and we look forward to having her join our team on April 13th! National Social Worker Month In honor of National Professional Social Work Month, we would like to take this time to highlight the important contributions social workers make to society. On Thursday afternoon, we held an appreciation lunch to show our gratitude for the committed social workers who facilitate our progress here at the Health Department. Each day, our nation’s more than 600,000 social workers confront some of the most challenging issues facing individuals and families, and create solutions that help people reach their full potential and make our communities a better place to live. For activities you can take part in to celebrate National Professional Social Work Month, honor social workers, and educate the public about the often unnoticed ways that social workers bring great good to our society, visit socialworkmonth.org BCHD Social workers have amazing compassion and talent. They confront some of the most challenging issues facing individuals, families, and communities and forge solutions that help people reach their full potential and make our City a better place to live. Therefore, we would like to celebrate the contributions of our social workers during National Social Work Month in March. |
Learn More About the State of Health in Baltimore! This spring, conversations across our city are focusing on the state of the economy, public safety, and education. These are all essential issues – but there is another critical topic that cuts across all of them: health. BCHD’s winter white paper is a comprehensive summary of key issues, services, and policies at the health department, including (1) essential background information on key topics from behavioral health to chronic disease; (2) our accomplishments over the past year; and (3) our aspirations for the future. We believe in sharing openly the progress we have made against our top health priorities within the city, and encourage you to review the paper and to share it with anyone that you believe would benefit from seeing this content! Later this spring, we will look forward to engaging you and other partners in developing Healthy Baltimore 2020, which will build upon the content in this white paper to present a five year blueprint for health and well-being in the city. Zika Update We understand the situation with Zika virus is constantly evolving. Out of an abundance of caution, the Baltimore Department City Health continues to closely monitor the movement of the virus, particularly among travelers. The CDC has comprehensive Zika information available at http://www.cdc.gov/zika/. The situation with Zika is changing quickly, and we will be providing regular updates at http://health.baltimorecity.gov/zika-virus and on Twitter @BMore_Healthy especially coming into the Spring and Summer months. |
B’More Health Talks Thank you for joining us for the Baltimore City Health Department's latest B’More Health Talk! These twice-monthly virtual town hall meetings are an opportunity for leaders in our community to discuss efforts to reduce health disparities, engage in our city's collaborative strategy, and share the work that organizations are doing. Our last discussion was entitled “Baltimore through a public health lens,” and featured a lively twitter chat with the hasttag #BmoreHealthTalks. We hope you’ll join us for our next talk on Friday, April 8th, by calling 605-562-3180 and using the access code 117-245-291 and tweet-chat live with the hashtag #BMoreHealthTalks! You can listen to all of our past Bmore Health Talks on our Soundcloud. You can also watch the special webcast edition of our last Bmore Health Talks on HIV on our youtube channel. In the meantime, we hope you will email us at bmoreheard@baltimorecity.gov with suggestions, ideas, or comments for this and future episodes. |
Get Ready for Spring Break! The Department of Recreation and Parks is sponsoring Spring Break: Mini Camp for kids ages 5-14 this Spring Break. The camp, which includes swimming, field trips, arts & crafts, camping, and more, will run March 28th to April 1st from 8 am to 5 pm. Pay $100 or $25/day and supper is provided. Register now until March 21st online at http://bcrp.baltimorecity.gov/. Youth Violence Prevention Week As a city, our task is to help ensure our youth’s well-being and their growth into successful adults. Coming up is Youth Violence Prevention week in Baltimore on April 2nd to 9th. Do you know a youth or adult making their community or school safer? Then nominate them to be a Baltimorphosis winner! Deadline is March 21st. Baltimorphosis Nomination form: http://health.baltimorecity.gov/files/baltimorphosis-2016-request-nominationspdf You can find resources for activities at Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE): http://nationalsave.org/what-we-do/save-events/national-youth-violence-p...Awareness activities can include: Promote respect and tolerance; Manage your anger. Don't let it manage you! Resolve conflicts peacefully; Support safety; Unite in action. Stay tuned for more details about Youth Violence Prevention week activities in Baltimore. |
Children’s Cabinet-Reading Reminder March is National Reading Month, and we want to spread the word about signing up to be a reading tutor. As you know, the Mayor signed an executive order allowing city employees two hours of paid leave to volunteer with Reading Partners. With 90% of the 4th graders in Baltimore reading below grade level, your support of this partnership and willingness to spread the word among your team can make a huge impact on Baltimore’s children and our city. This is a fantastic opportunity to change a life. It is easy for anyone to sign up, and sites are located throughout the City. Currently, we have 82 City employees who tutor once a week with Reading Partners. While this is great, there are over 100 students who are waiting for a tutor and need your support. It's easy to make a huge difference. |
Events Light City U: Powering Social Change The Light City U: Powering Social Change Conference is March 28th - April 2nd. The conference is bringing together innovators, thought leaders and change-makers across four key industries to explore one question: How do we become a more responsible and equitable society? Dr. Leana Wen is speaking at the conferences on social innovation and health innovation. | | |
Baltimore-wide Diabetes Prevention Events Tuesday March 22nd was National Diabetes Alert Day. We would like to share some general information about diabetes risk factors with you all. Prediabetes is a condition in which individuals have high blood glucose or hemoglobin A1C levels, but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. If prediabetes goes untreated, individuals may develop diabetes and increase their risk of other chronic diseases such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure. The Baltimore City Health Department Office of Chronic Disease Prevention, in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, has been working diligently to expand the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) throughout Baltimore City. The National Diabetes prevention program is a lifestyle change program that provides tools to help people reach their goals toward living a healthier life. The program includes: - Trained lifestyle coach
- Weekly exercise activities
- Nutrition and exercise log to track progress
- Stress management strategies
Anyone can check to see if they are at risk of having Prediabetes by taking the CDC recognized Prediabetes screening test. There are a number of locations in Baltimore City that offers DPPs for high risk individuals. See the flyer for more details or visit the Diabetes Prevention website at health.baltimorecity.gov/chronic-disease-prevention/diabetes-prevention. Take Steps to End HIV/AIDS Walk 2016 Please join the Baltimore City Health Department’s HIV/STD Services Bureau as we “Take Steps to End HIV/AIDS” at the 2016 Baltimore AIDS Walk/Run on Sunday, May 1, 2016 at 8:30 am. Join BCHD’s team by clicking HERE to register! For more information about the event, please the Baltimore AIDS Walk/Run page. You can search for the BCHD team by typing ‘Baltimore City Health Department - HIV/STD Services’ in the search field. Additional information will be sent out as the date for the event approaches. Forward this information along to your family and friends to participate as well. We look forward to seeing you all on Sunday, May 1st. Get Pump’d for the Purse & Pumps 1 Mile Awareness Walk | | Get your strut on while raising awareness about HIV/AIDS among women and girls in your community. The walk will take place at Druid Hill Park’s Sundial Pavilion from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on Saturday, May 14th. Bring your friends for a day to remember! For more information contact the BCHD STD/HIV Prevention Program: jillian.newsam@baltimorecity.gov or Vonda.colson@baltimorecity.gov. |
News Clips We want to hear from you! Have a unique talent? Doing great things in the community? Have you made a healthy lifestyle change? To nominate yourself or a colleague to get featured in the newsletter just contact BCHD2@baltimorecity.gov. Thank you! Stay in the loop and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and BCHD Blog and don't forget to visit the website. |
