20-Minute Health Talk

How our environment shapes our health

What goes on in our home, neighborhoods and community all have a major impact on our health. Chronic issues like diabetes and heart disease are more prevalent in vulnerable communities, which also tend to face more environmental challenges. Northwell is hosting the 1^st Annual Raise Health Forum on Oct. 5, 2021. This free virtual event will cast a light on issues including Health Equity, Women’s Health and Environmental Health. 

Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD, Stacey Rosen, MD, and Jacqueline Moline, MD, will each host panels addressing these issues and the role health systems can play. Register at https://raisehealth21.app.rsvpify.com/ 

Full agenda:

11:00 am ET - Why We're Here

• Michael Dowling, President & CEO, Northwell Health

11:05 am ET - Welcome & Introduction

• David Battinelli, MD, SVP and Chief Medical Officer, Northwell Health

11:10 am ET - By the Numbers: Social Determinants of Health

This data-driven presentation will highlight the numbers and metrics behind the Social Determinants of Health as driven by environmental, social, and gender-based inputs.

• Kulleni Gebreyes, Director of Health Equity Institute, Deloitte

11:20 am ET - Reaching the Hard to Reach: Equitable Healthcare Access, and the Role of Community Leadership

This cross-sector conversation will explore how and why certain communities are harder to engage around healthcare delivery, and share best practices that both faith and community leaders and private sector leaders are using to gain trust and unlock healthcare delivery in our communities. Taking a particular look through the lens of Covid-19, especially around testing, treatment, clinical trials, and vaccine access and delivery, it will ask the question: what does this mean for engaging communities around other health risk factors, and for health equity outcomes overall?

• Marcus Osborne, Senior Vice President, Walmart Health, Walmart
• Megan Callahan, President, Healthcare, Lyft
• Rev. Dr. Malcolm Byrd, Pastor, Chief of Protocol, Mother AME Zion Church
• Moderator: Jennifer Mieres, MD, Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Northwell Health

11:40 am ET - Breaking the Mold in Women's Health

For too long, our medical establishment and practices have failed to make the distinction in treating males and females in a number of areas, including clinical trials, treatment prescriptions, physician education, and more. This conversation will explore the uniqueness of women’s health, and how we should be treating the patient based on key differences between the sexes, the implications for the healthcare community, and how the medical field can and should implement changes moving forward.

• Janine Clayton, MD, FARVO, Director, Office of Research on Women’s Health, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Nancy Brown, Chief Executive Officer, American Heart Association
• Moderator: Stacey Ellyn Rosen, MD, Senior Vice President, Women’s Health, Katz Institute for Women’s Health, Northwell Health

12:00 pm ET - The World Around Us: How our Environment is Shaping our Health

The physical environment is a key contributor to our health — the air we breathe, the food we ingest, and even the design of our physical spaces all contribute to our health outcomes. In an ever changing climate and environmental landscape, how can stakeholders take measures to ensure we are maximizing community health?

• Karen Hacker, MD, MPH, Director, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Whitney Austin Gray, PhD, WELL AP, LEED AP, SVP of Research, International WELL Building Institute
• Corey Stern, Partner, Levy Konigsberg
• Moderator: Jacqueline Moline, MD, MSc, FACP, FACOEM, Senior Vice President, Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwell Health

12:20 pm ET - The Power of Innovation: How Technology Will Power the Future of Health

Across health equity, women’s health, and environmental health, we know that the solutions we seek will be powered by the same approach and mindset that has powered the medical field for centuries: the innovation mindset. How can cutting-edge technology and new approaches to healthcare help ensure a positive future for the health of our communities?

• Ann Aerts, Head of the Novartis Foundation, Novartis
• Shez Partovi, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer, Royal Philips
• Deena Shakir, Partner, Lux Capital
• Moderator: Debbie Salas-Lopez, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President, Community and Population Health, Northwell Health

12:45 pm ET - The Patient Story

Highlighting the racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare.

• Michelle R. Connell
• Hosted by: Zenobia Brown, MD, MPH, Vice President and Medical Director, Population Health, Northwell Health

12:55 pm ET - Raise Health

• Michael Dowling, President & CEO, Northwell Health

Overcoming substance use disorder, Part II

COVID-19 has skyrocketed rates of substance use disorder. Sandeep Kapoor, MD, joins Shatterproof executive director Stephen D'Antonio to explain how people can find resources, educate themselves, diffuse stigma and save lives. 

Meet the experts

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor is Assistant Vice President of Addiction Services for Northwell’s Emergency Medicine Services, as well as Director of SBIRT, that’s Northwell’s Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment program.

Stephen D’Antonio is the Executive Vice President for Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the addiction crisis. He also helped create the podcast series “My Child & Addiction.”

Resources

Northwell's Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program is open six days a week, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call 516-465-5955 to speak to a team member.

Stephen created the "Just Five" series to help people understand the most important concepts and facts regarding addiction: https://justfive.org/northwell/

Call SAMSHA's national hotline: 1-800-622-HELP

Overcoming substance use disorder, Part I

Approximately 93,000 drug overdoses took place in 2020, the highest number ever in a single year. Many life-saving resources are available, yet only one in 10 receive treatment. So many suffer in silence and stigma plays a major role. Stephen D'Antonio shares his experience becoming an advocate for his son, who overcame an alcohol use disorder, and partnering with other parents and health care organizations. He joins Sandeep Kapoor, MD, to discuss substance use disorders, shattering stigma and more. 

Meet the experts

Dr. Sandeep Kapoor is Assistant Vice President of Addiction Services for Northwell’s Emergency Medicine Services, as well as Director of SBIRT, that’s Northwell’s Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment program.

Stephen D’Antonio is the Executive Vice President for Shatterproof, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the addiction crisis. He also helped create the podcast series “My Child & Addiction.”

Resources

Northwell's Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) program is open six days a week, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call 516-465-5955 to speak to a team member.

Stephen created the "Just Five" series to help people understand the most important concepts and facts regarding addiction: https://justfive.org/northwell/

Call SAMSHA's national hotline: 1-800-622-HELP

When to consider a second opinion

Seeking a second opinion can be the difference between a slow recovery or a positive outcome. Daniel Sciubba, MD, and Matthew Weiss, MD, explain their approach when a patient comes in asking for a second opinion.

Meet the experts

Daniel Sciubba, MD, is senior vice president of neurosurgery at Northwell Health; and chair of neurosurgery at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

Matthew Weiss, MD, surgeon and deputy physician in chief at Northwell’s Cancer Institute.

Suicide prevention in health care workers

Four hundred physicians die each year by suicide, a statistic that is both tragic and personal for advocates like Corey Feist, JD, MBA. In April 2020, his sister-in-law, Dr. Lorna Breen, took her own life shortly after recovering from COVID-19. She worked in emergency medicine, which has one of the highest rates of suicide of all medical specialties. To recognize Physician Suicide Awareness Day, Corey joined Northwell's Patricia Flynn and Mayer Bellehsen, PhD, to discuss barriers to seeking help, suicide prevention, and physician burnout, as well as sharing and expanding resources. 

Meet the experts

Patricia Flynn, assistant vice president of wellness and employee assistance.

Mayer Bellehsen, PhD, director, Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience, and Recovery.

Corey Feist is a health care executive and co-founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube.

Can schools reopen safely?

Many schools across the United States have been forced to close just weeks after reopening - more than 1,000 across 31 states - as the delta variant continues to spread. But, schools can reopen safely, says David Fagan, MD, if they follow proper mitigation efforts. He joins Charles Schleien, MD, to discuss: universal masking in schools; the spike of COVID cases in children nationally; the delta variant's impact; and what health care systems can do to help schools stay open. 

Meet the experts

Dr. Schleien is the senior vice president and chair of the pediatric services at Northwell Health.

Dr. Fagan is vice chair of pediatric ambulatory administration for Cohen Children’s Medical Center.

Listen to episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOylAPfMBafmhQIwY75QbOzNcQEpz5tEr 

9/11 first responders reflect on 20th anniversary, Part II

In Part II of this conversation, our panel of heroes explores the mental health concerns for 9/11 first responders 20 years later, and what Northwell is doing to help them cope. The Queens World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program integrates mental health into its program, which Jacqueline Moline, MD, MSc, details.

Eddie Reyes, program director for Northwell Health Emergency Management, and Scott Strauss, vice president of Northwell Health Corporate Security, share their experiences coping with the memories they carry and how they mark the anniversary of 9/11. They also reflect on those who they consider heroes - the civilians who assisted in rescue missions, working on the pile, bringing food and sending cards and letters in the months and weeks after the attack on 9/11. 

 

9/11 first responders reflect on 20th anniversary, Part I

Retired NYPD officers Scott Strauss and Eddie Reyes spent nine months working on and in "the pile" after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Now 20 years later, both suffer from health issues related to those heroic efforts, which include a remarkable rescue famously portrayed in the Oliver Stone-directed film, "World Trade Center." Both also have found treatment -- and hope -- at Northwell Health's Queens World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program. Administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the program tracks medical research into physical and mental health conditions related to 9/11 exposures.

Jacqueline Moline, MD, MSc, senior vice president of Northwell’s Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention department, directs the WTC Health Program. She joins Eddie and Scott to reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, as well as her experiences caring for those first responders.

More from the experts

Hear more from Scott Strauss and Eddie Reyes from Northwell's 2021 Side-by-Side NBC special.

Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube. 

ER on Demand: A new emergency telehealth program

“ER on Demand” is a new telehealth program that makes it easy for patients to consult an emergency medicine doctor at home, even in the middle of the night. Jonathan Berkowitz, MD, medical director of emergency medical services at Northwell Health, and John D'Angelo, Northwell's chief of integrated operations, talk launching an overnight telehealth service and making it accessible from anywhere in New York State.

Read more about ER on Demand. 

Watch episodes of 20-Minute Health Talk on YouTube. 

Will I need a COVID booster shot?

As federal officials consider COVID booster shots for all Americans, certain immunocompromised individuals began receiving a third dose of the mRNA vaccines this week following approvals from the FDA and CDC late last week. Onisis Stefas, PharmD, chief pharmacy officer for Northwell Health, explains the need for booster shots, who is eligible now and what else immunocompromised individuals can do to protect themselves against COVID-19, especially the delta variant.