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Uniform Data System, Jan. 8, 9 QTS, Leadership Session, Feb. 27, 7:30 am - 1:30 pm QTS, Quality Institute, Feb. 27, 1:30 - 4 pm |
In this Issue
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Welcome to Senior Policy Coordinators Kimberly Keymer and Caleb Gilchrist. Welcome to Aza Nedhari, Project Specialist – AWI; and AWI Project Assistants Melissa Salinas and Kevin McNeill. Welcome to Cathy Morales, Director of Community Health Access and the AmeriCorps Community HealthCorp participants. Welcome to Linda Gardiner, RHIO Project Intern. |
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Policy and Advocacy |
"Working Out The Kinks" at DCPCA's 2008 Annual Meeting Caregivers, advocates, and public officials have a few things in common. They seek to help those in need, constantly search for solutions to grand and sometimes inexplicable problems, and most often put the needs of others – patients, constituents, community members – ahead of themselves. We’ve all heard the phrase “healer, heal thyself.” This year’s DCPCA Annual Meeting might have inspired a few attendees to say “problem solver, work out thine own kinks.” On October 14th, nearly 300 health professionals, policymakers, and community advocates gathered at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University to join DCPCA for our 11th Annual Meeting, where breakout sessions were planned on the development of the DC Department of Health Care Finance, the incorporation of community input into health improvement models, and the planning of a regional health care information system. Instead, when the breakout room doors opened, our guests found masseurs and masseuses offering back and shoulder rubs, an art room with therapeutic painting and beadwork, a t’ai chi workshop, and a meditative breathing class. The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting was “We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For,” emphasizing the personal involvement of caregivers, advocates, and public officials in all the healing work we do in the District, and focusing on the basic human connection behind all of our efforts. The day began with a plenary session opened by Chief Executive Officer Sharon A. Baskerville and Board Chair Dr. Rhonique Shields-Harris, introducing the day’s theme to a drumbeat background provided by Kristen Arant of the Young Women’s Drumming Empowerment Project. For the second year running, participants were also led in a community-sing workshop by Charles Williams of the Levine School of Music. Former Assistant Surgeon General Dr. Marilyn Gaston provided this year’s keynote address, focused on self-care for health care providers and others in the nonprofit sector. The morning concluded with presentations by Dr. Nicole Lurie of the RAND Corporation reviewing the latest data on health care needs in DC, and Dr. Robert Zarr of Physicians for a National Health Program on the concept of a single-payer health insurance program and plans for health reform within a new presidential administration. At our annual awards luncheon, the 2008 Champion of Change Award was presented to Katherine T. Freshley, senior program officer at the Meyer Foundation, in recognition of her deep and significant commitment to improving health care for all DC residents, and of her tireless work leveraging support within the local and national funding communities to build a new culture of quality in the District’s health care system. Baskerville also presented the 2008 Distinguished Public Official Award to Vincent C. Gray, chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, the 2008 Distinguished Caregiver Award to Dr. Randi Abramson, medical clinic director of Bread for the City, and the 2008 Distinguished Community Advocate Award to Walter Smith, executive director of the DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. After the surprise of our restorative self-care workshops, the day’s events came to a close with a performance from Tony Award-winning playwright, actor, and poet Sarah Jones and her one-woman show “A Right to Care,” tackling themes of inequality in health, which led to a rousing discussion at the conclusion of the show. Throughout the day our guests were also welcomed by representatives from our seventeen 2008 Annual Meeting Sponsors, without whom such an inspiring program for the day would not have been possible, and from ten youth programs supporting teens in the District of Columbia, including DCPCA’s own Adolescent Wellness Institute. See how many “I Support DC Youth” buttons you can spot in the photo album from our event. |
