Center for Community Health & Prevention Highlights 2022

2022 Highlights

A Message from Our Director

Happy New Year! I am profoundly grateful for the people and agencies that have partnered with us over the years to improve health and advance health equity in our region. Together, we are helping to create a more just community where everyone can lead a healthier life.

After founding the Center for Community Health & Prevention (CCHP) in 2006 and serving as CCHP director for the past 16 years, I will be stepping down from this role when a new director is on board. The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) is initiating a search for my successor. I have made this decision with a heavy heart, as directing the Center has been my best job! My appreciation for our staff and our many community partners knows no bounds – it is very hard to walk away. But, it is time for new ideas, new energy and new challenges. The new year and our leadership transition make this an ideal time to reflect on where we’ve been, where we are now and where we’re headed. As we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, we are thinking about what we have learned, how we’ve grown and what we’ve achieved through innovative and rapid responses to a constantly changing environment. We are launching exciting initiatives in 2023 to meet new challenges, continually seeking to be “ever better.” I invite you to read about our activities, and join us as we journey into the future, improving health in our region.

With all my best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year, Nana M. Bennett, MD, MS Director of the Center for Community Health & Prevention

CONTENTS

Looking Back

Completed Projects that Achieved and Surpassed Goals

Recognition and Awards for Excellence

Growing Our Team

Congrats to CCHP Staff

Events Showcasing Community Health Champions and Models

Future Generations Mentored in Community Health

Community Voices 4 Where We Are and Where We’re Going Expanding Our Reach 5

Supporting Community Health Improvement 7

Completed Projects that Achieved and Surpassed Goals

Improving Conversations Around COVID-19 Vaccinations

Finger Lakes Rural Immunization Initiative (FLRII): This initiative, funded by the CDC, to address low vaccination rates in rural areas, ended in September. FLRII focused on COVID-19 vaccine awareness, education and increase in access across the Finger Lakes region. The initiative was led by a CCHP team that worked closely with community partners, physicians, local health departments and other trusted messengers and collaborators. The team held “Changing the Conversation” workshops that combined improv theater techniques with coaching on how to tap into people’s inner motivations, with the goal of improving the sometimes-difficult conversations surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations.

Finger Lakes COVID-19 Vaccine Hub

URMC was one of 10 regional vaccine hubs appointed by New York State (NYS) to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine. The Finger Lakes COVID-19 Vaccine Hub’s goal was to ensure the equitable, transparent and efficient immunization of at least 70% of adult residents of the 9-county region. Led by Dr. Bennett, and comprised of a broad network of multidisciplinary leaders, the Hub collaborated with hospitals, local health departments, Monroe County government, health care providers and many community-based organizations to vaccinate more than 70% of adult and child residents of the Finger Lakes region. Dr. Bennett and Wade Norwood, CEO of Common Ground Health, also chaired the Finger Lakes COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, a large and inclusive group that oversaw the vaccination efforts in our region.

National Accredited Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC)

The Patient Navigation grant, through Health Research Incorporated and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), provided a free Breast Care Patient Navigator to educate and support women from underserved communities so they could complete overdue breast cancer screenings. The project goal was to contact 800 women, which was far surpassed. Over 3 years, more than 4,000 women who had not had a mammogram in more than 10 years were contacted, providing education and assistance with overcoming screening barriers.

Recognition and Awards for Excellence

Teen Health & Success Partnership

(THSP)

receives Congressional Earmark

The THSP matches high school students in the City of Rochester with employment opportunities at the University of Rochester (UR) and provides mentoring and professional development opportunities to support students’ long-term career success. The $300,000 congressional earmark will support and expand the THSP’s Healthcare Career Pathway Program, which helps students gain relevant work experience, complete education programs and attain a promotion into a higher-wage job along their desired health care career path. The pathways of focus are nursing, pharmacy, patient services and clinical laboratory services.

The UR is deeply grateful to Congressman Joe Morelle for his efforts and support in making this possible, as well as Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for their support of this important project.

Healthy People 2030 Champion

The CCHP was awarded this federal designation in recognition of our commitment to helping people achieve their full potential for healthy living.

4,000 Women

Contacted for Mammograms

Student

Success

with THSP ❱ More than 80 students living in the City of Rochester working across UR locations ❱ 100% graduation rate for 2022 high school seniors ❱ 80% enrolled in college

Dr. Bennett Receives Physician Lifetime Achievement Award

CCHP Director Dr. Bennett was recognized with the prestigious Dr. Albert David Kaiser Medal: Physician Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rochester Academy of Medicine. The award represents recognition of lifetime achievement of local, regional, national and international contributions to medicine. Dr. Bennett has been an active Academy member since 2010 and is nationally recognized for her expertise in immunization, chronic disease prevention and community engagement.

70% Vaccination in the Finger Lakes region

Sara Mayer-Fried, FLRII program manager, and John Cullen, PhD, director of Diversity and Inclusion for the UR Clinical and Translational Science Institute, led the workshop with UR Medicine staff.

Growing Our Team

Expanding Our Clinical Team

Shivani Sockanathan, MD, family medicine physician, joined our clinical team from St. Louis, Missouri, where she worked with patients on managing and preventing a variety of chronic conditions.

NYS Emerging Infections Program (EIP) Grows

Our Communicable Diseases Surveillance & Prevention program is a partner of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) EIP. Over the last 2 to 3 years, 8 new staff were added to the EIP team to meet the ever-increasing demands of communicable disease monitoring and tracking in the Rochester and Finger Lakes region. This expansion included the development of a new program assistant role designed for MPH students to gain experience in public health surveillance with the goal of becoming a pipeline to full-time position.

The NYS EIP is part of the CDC’s national effort to provide population-based communicable disease data to identify disease patterns, evaluate vaccine programs and identify populations at risk. Our communicable disease experts contributed to dozens of CDC-led publications and presentations during the last year.

Events Showcasing Community Health Champions and Models

Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement Awards & Grand Rounds Presented virtually in April, the 13th annual event honored 3 URMC faculty and staff for their contributions to advancing community health and health equity in our region. Sidney Hankerson, MD, MBA, vice chair for Community Engagement in the Department of Psychiatry and director of Mental Health Equity Research in the Institute for Health Equity Research at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, presented the keynote address, “Leveraging Community Engagement to Promote Mental Health Equity.”

2022 AWARDEES:

Senior Faculty Awardee: Catherine Cerulli, JD, PhD Professor of Psychiatry, URMC; Director, Susan B. Anthony Center; Director, Laboratory of Interpersonal Violence and Victimization Dr. Cerulli’s work involves collaboration with a number of community partners, including The Center for Youth, the Willow Domestic Violence Center of Greater Rochester and the New York State Office of Court Administration.

Junior Faculty Awardee: Suzie Noronha, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, URMC; Director, Pediatric Sickle Cell Program, Golisano Children’s Hospital Dr. Noronha’s primary partner in her work with Rochester’s sickle cell community is The Roc-City Sicklers.

Staff Awardee: Kelly McDermott, MS

Community Liaison, Hoekelman Center at Golisano Children’s Hospital

Kelly’s community partners include the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Cameron Community Ministries and the Maplewood Family YMCA.

Special Public Health Grand Rounds – 11th annual Bernard Guyer Lecture Garen Wintemute, MD, MPH, professor of Emergency Medicine and Baker-Teret Chair in Violence Prevention at the University of California, Davis, presented “Firearm Violence: Where We Stand, What We Can Do” as the keynote address for the November event. Wintemute directs the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program and the California Firearm Violence Research Center. He also held a community conversation with our partners on applying his research in the local context and increasing research in violence prevention.

Dr. Sockanathan

Dr. Hankerson

8 New Staff Added to EIP Team

Dr. Wintemute

Future Generations Mentored in Community Health

A total of 28 students, including medical students, preventive medicine residents and student interns, took part in various community-engaged learning opportunities provided in partnership with CCHP.

Students of Distinction

Several UR School of Medicine & Dentistry (URSMD) medical students were recognized at graduation as an MD with Distinction in Community Health. This is an option for students who make significant longitudinal contributions to community service, excel in the Community Health Improvement courses and engage in learning about current issues and topics in community health throughout medical school. This process is coordinated by Center Director of Community Health Policy and Education Theresa Green, PhD, MBA, and Carolyn Settle, MPH, community health education coordinator.

Andrus Fellows

The CCHP E. Cowles Andrus Summer Fellowship is a funded 8-week opportunity for a medical student to plan and conduct a community health improvement project. Two students were selected for 2022: Sumeetha (Sumee) Swaminathan worked with Robert Block, MD, MPH, lipids expert at URMC, on interviews and focus groups with patients diagnosed with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a genetic disorder that increases the likelihood of having coronary heart disease at a younger age. She also explored how to best use the Epic electronic medical record to improve the diagnosis of FH and prevent premature heart disease.

Brittany (Britt) Hodges helped with Foodlink’s Lexington Avenue Farm to assess the farm’s impact on the cardiovascular and mental health of local community members and the farmers themselves. She also helped with cooking demonstrations at the City of Rochester Public Market. Britt was awarded third place for best poster presentation at the 2022 Family Medicine Education Consortium.

Congrats to CCHP Staff

Administrative Program Manager Laura McIntosh completed the URMC Administrative Fellowship Program.

Health Project Coordinator Sparkle Wells, MPA, CASAC-Advanced, completed the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes’ African American Leadership Development Program.

The following team members were accepted into leadership development programs in 2022:

■ Laura Sugarwala, MBA, RD, director of community health partnerships – Leadership Rochester

■ Justin Kelsey, MHA, manager of employee wellness programs –2023 UR Medicine Leader Fellowship Program, Quality Track

■ Tanisha Gamble-Snead, LMSW, hiring navigator for THSP –2023 UR Medicine Leader Fellowship Program

Britt Hodges

Community Voices

Community Health Mini-Grant Recipient–Community-Based Brain Health Workshop

The program consisted of 5 two-hour long workshops that focused on nutrition, exercise and stress management. These workshops helped empower participants to promote cognitive health for themselves, their families and their community through personal action and peer-to-peer education.

“The CCHP was fundamental in our ability to get the Brain Health Workshop Series off the ground, and we have loved working with them on this program,” shared facilitator Katie Webster. “Their support and encouragement brought our humble dream to a successful reality that is evolving into sustainable programs and ongoing collaboration with historically marginalized communities within Rochester.”

Teen Health & Success Partnership Scholar

Desire Mfaume first became interested in the health care field when he had malaria as a child in a Nyarugusu (Tanzania) refugee camp. “This was a traumatic time for me,” he shared. But it also inspired him. He says: “Seeing how people suffer from diseases, such as malaria, makes me want to make a change in the world and leave a legacy through healing people.”

“The Teen Health & Success Partnership program is the ‘place to be’ for those interested in a career in the health care field. It provides the opportunity to work closely with experts that people my age wouldn’t normally get.”

– Desire Mfaume

Grateful Promote Health. Prevent Cancer. (PHPC) Participant: “It’s important to learn new things as we get older and to do what’s in our power to take care of ourselves,” shared Cathy Markert, a recent participant in the PHPC program hosted at the Chili Community Center.

“I had my first appointment with Jill today to discuss my weight loss journey and she was beyond wonderful,” shared the patient. “Her approach is very thorough and personable, and I immediately felt like I was in great hands with her. I feel like she truly cares about helping her patients be successful.”

Congratulations to Katie Webster, NP, URMC Department of Neurology; Charles White, URMC community liaison; Christine Annis, URMC NeuroNEXT site coordinator; Phyllis Jackson, RN, director of the Interdenominational Health Ministry Coalition; and Florence Clemmons, senior Community Engagement manager, and Camille Verbofsky, MPH, director of Community Health Programs, both at Foodlink.

Cathy Markert

Jill Chodak, MS, RD, CDN

CLINICAL CORNER:

Jill Chodak, MS, RD, CDN, was recognized by an appreciative patient as an ICARE star.

WHERE WE ARE & WHERE WE’RE GOING

Expanding Our Reach

The Center offers a wide range of programs focused on chronic disease prevention. We hope to continue to expand the reach of these initiatives in the coming years.

Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)

Employee Wellness Program Manager, Justin Kelsey, MHA, is now CDC-certified as a DPP master trainer, giving our team added expertise and the ability to train additional lifestyle coaches to support continued growth of the program.

Nicotine Cessation

Our cigarette and vaping cessation programs have grown to support younger patients, providing counseling about nicotine and tobacco use and prescribing nicotine replacement therapy, as appropriate. We’re proud to partner with URMC leaders across different disciplines in nicotine cessation work, facilitating a monthly meeting where we discuss ongoing/new projects, work to problem solve together, avoid duplication and plan research ideas.

Our free Commit to Quit! group program had 6 total 6-week cohorts in 2022, providing connection and support for individuals with an interest in cutting back and/or quitting smoking or vaping.

Promote Health. Prevent Cancer.

The free, 8-week healthy living program, provided in partnership with Wilmot Cancer Institute, had 308 enrollees in 2022, between both virtual and in-person class offerings. Classes were held at community centers, libraries, churches and other gathering spaces throughout Monroe, Ontario, Yates, Genesee, Seneca, Schuyler, Wayne and Allegany counties. Participants joined others with similar health goals in learning how small changes in nutrition and physical activity can add up to make a big difference in increasing their overall health and well-being.

Cancer Services Program of the Finger Lakes Region (CSP-FLR)

A total of 393 individuals in need of breast, colorectal or cervical cancer screenings received potentially life-saving screenings, about a 4.5% increase from 2021. Men and women 45 and older without health insurance and living in Monroe, Seneca, Yates, Livingston, Ontario and Wayne Counties benefit from this NYS-grant funded program.

BREAST CANCER SCREENINGS

up from 2021

CANCER SCREENINGS

up from 2021

68% of individuals who participated in PHPC increased their fruit or vegetable intake by at least one serving every day.

122

Events with CSP-FLR participation, including health fairs, educational presentations, workshops, screening days and more throughout the 6 counties served.

Sparkle Wells, health project coordinator, and Michele Tufano, program manager of CSP-FLR.

6 Commit to Quit! Group Programs Offered

New Well-U Lifestyle Management Programs

Our clinicians developed 2 new employee wellness programs for UR employees to launch in 2023.

You Can Quit!

Composed of 6 individual sessions, this opportunity supports UR employees having trouble with quitting smoking or vaping. Our team of expert counselors help participants learn the benefits of being nicotine/tobacco-free and develop a comprehensive plan to cut down or quit, with continued guidance.

Goal Setting Success

This offering of 5 group sessions helps participants develop a successful plan for achieving their personal goals. Using a research-based behavioral change method and the guidance of experts, UR employees will set realistic goals, find motivational tools that work and achieve and maintain their accomplishments.

Flower City AmeriCorps Partnership

CCHP was awarded placement of a Flower City Public Health AmeriCorps member, who started in December, and will continue to add capacity to our program reach through 2023.

Teen Health & Success Partnership Supports More Students At East High School

Information Technology (IT)

Over the summer, THSP connected 4 East High School students with internships in different specialty areas within the URMC IT Department. They gained valuable work experience and skills in a professional IT environment.

Medical & Laboratory Health Sciences

THSP partnered closely with East High’s Medical & Laboratory Health Sciences pathway by arranging health care career panels, supporting students at lunch and learns, providing employment opportunities for students at URMC and Highland Hospital and helping with the development of work-based learning experiences registered with NYS. In the past year, we expanded nursing job roles for students and worked with URMC departments to offer new opportunities for students in Imaging Sciences and Sterile Processing.

“The University of Rochester internship helped me think about my decisions for college and future careers.”

–Jaheem Barnes, junior at East High School

IT interns and East High juniors Jaheem Barnes and Zara Pyatt Ramos with their supervisors.

Supporting Community Health Improvement

Community Engagement Course Shares Expertise

A 4-week Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) focusing on community engagement is available on Coursera. The MOOC was created by Dr. Green, and includes video presentations by other Center and UR faculty and staff. This course is designed to be self-paced and is entirely online.

Latest Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) Available for 2022-2024

The CCHP plays an active role in local community health policy. Dr. Green and Community Health Policy Coordinator, Daniel Green, MPH, convene and coordinate a workgroup of diverse partners called the Community Health Improvement Workgroup (CHIW) who help identify and address our community’s most pressing health issues. The CHIW is comprised of representatives from 4 hospitals in Monroe County, the Monroe County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) and several local community and government groups. The CHIW reviews data and community concerns and needs, and at least every 3 years, develops a plan to address priority areas with members committing to implementing this plan.

CHIW Establishes Mini-Grant

The 2022–2024 Monroe County CHIP and the 2022-2024 Monroe County Community Health Needs Assessment are now available.

The mini-grant funds small-scale (up to $10,000) local, city-wide or county-wide ongoing or new initiatives that are short-term (one year in duration maximum) and address the goals of the 2022-2024 Monroe County CHIP.

The first-round grantees are the Wellness Associates of Greater Rochester (WAGR) and Metro Council for Teen Potential (MCTP). WAGR will promote mental health and wellbeing through training key stakeholders in Mental Health First Aid and to increase the accessibility of this program by training a Spanish-speaking instructor. MCTP will address disparities in maternal and child health through relaunching a media campaign that will support the reproductive justice and autonomy of young women and prevent unintended pregnancy in the City of Rochester.

Tracking and Preventing Communicable Diseases

COVID-19 Among Healthcare Personnel

The EIP team is working with the CDC on gathering information from health care personnel who have been tested for COVID-19 to evaluate how well COVID-19 vaccines prevent laboratory-confirmed, symptomatic COVID-19 in health care workers. Local results were presented at IDWeek 2022, highlighting that vaccine effectiveness was lower when the Omicron variant was circulating and that effectiveness waned as time since vaccination increased. This work is ongoing, with plans to evaluate the effectiveness of the bivalent vaccine booster.

As of December 10, 2022, there were 4,437 RSV cases and 454 hospitalizations,and 7,398 flu cases and 285 hospitalizationsinMonroe County.BothRSVandfluhad four deaths confirmed for each disease.

RSV and Flu Cases Surge after COVID Pandemic

The fall/winter season presented unprecedented cases of RSV locally and throughout the country. Flu cases increased throughout the winter. Flu data summaries continued to be provided to the MCDPH and the broader clinical community on a weekly basis; RSV was added to the summary in November 2022 due to the increase in hospitalizations and cases.

An Evaluation of

the Effectiveness of

the JYNNEOS Smallpox Vaccine Against Mpox Was Added to the EIP Work Participants will be recruited from regions outside the NYC metropolitan area in collaboration with the NYSDOH. The CCHP is partnering with Trillium Health and the Infectious Disease Clinic at Strong Memorial Hospital for this project.

Center for Community Health & Prevention

46 Prince Street, Rochester, NY 14607

Phone: (585) 602-0801 Fax: (585) 442-3372 urmc.rochester.edu/community-health