Message from the Commissioner: Dear Valuable Community Partner, This has been yet another exiting week at BCHD! This week, we had the amazing opportunity to host U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy on the first leg of his national tour to raise awareness around addiction and efforts to combat opioid abuse. After meeting with our senior team and number of our staff at BCHD, The Surgeon General and I toured a local treatment center; had a conversation with leaders from across the City and participated in town halls at both Morgan State and Johns Hopkins Universities. In commemoration of Youth Violence Prevention Week, BCHD has again organized a series of events across the city commemorating the progress we are seeing and to ask communities to reiterate their commitment to ending violence in our city. Of course this week was also National Public Health Week, where I joined with national leaders for a thought-provoking Twitter chat on a number of our key priorities. Please check out the recap of our conversation, as well as tweets from so many others using the hashtag #NPHWchat. It was truly an honor to bring renewed attention to the innovative work being done in communities across Baltimore. Though, National Public Health Week is at an end, I know that our work at BCHD will only continue to shine in the coming weeks. I am so proud to continue leading such a motivated and ambitious team of public health leaders as we work to make Baltimore a healthier city. With all my best, Leana Wen, M.D. M.Sc. Agency News BCHD Host Surgeon General to Kickoff National Tour around How to #TurnTheTide on America’s Opioid Crisis On Tuesday, April 5th, BCHD had the amazing opportunity to host U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy to kick-off a national tour that will raise awareness about the disease of addiction and highlight local efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. BCHD welcomed Dr. Murthy for a working lunch with our senior team followed by a wonderful meet and greet with a number of our staff. During the lunch, the Surgeon General shared his appreciation for Baltimore’s commitment to improving health and striving for equity. During his visit to Baltimore, Dr. Murthy visited Man Alive, Inc. and Lane Treatment Center, which both serve individuals struggling with addiction and mental health disorders. The second oldest program of its kind in the country, Man Alive utilizes an innovative treatment model that truly provides comprehensive support for Baltimore’s residents. During his tour, Dr. Murthy and Dr. Wen joined with a group of dancers in Man Alive’s Imagination Lab for a truly moving performance and discussion around recovery. Dr. Murthy also joined Dr. Wen in a roundtable discussion with key leaders from across the City regarding health as it relates to all sectors of civic life. Later in the day, Dr. Murthy addressed students, faculty, and community leaders in a town hall discussion at Morgan State University, moderated by Dr. Wen, focusing on the opioid epidemic. This passionate dialogue and thoughtful audience Q/A was inspiring and powerful. During the discussion, Dr. Wen took the opportunity on stage with the Surgeon General to demonstrate how to use naloxone for the hundreds in attendance. His visit to Baltimore concluded with an evening address to Johns Hopkins students at the Undergraduate Public Health Student Forum Conference “More Life for More Lives.” We were honored to host the Surgeon General and so grateful that he decided to kick off this national tour in Baltimore, as we seek to make Baltimore the model for addition recovery. |
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BCHD Celebrates Youth Violence Prevention Week! The Baltimore City Health Department's Office of Youth Violence Prevention, in conjunction with community partners and other agencies, celebrated Youth Violence Prevention Week. In Baltimore, Youth Violence Prevention Week is celebrated from April 1, 2016, through April 9, 2016, and aims to raise awareness of effective ways to prevent or reduce youth violence. We are proud to host Youth Violence Prevention Week to show the commitment of our young people and all of our partners to breaking cycles of violence, to showcase our residents who are everyday heroes, and to inspire everyone across our city to create positive change in their communities.” Throughout the week, BCHD held a number of events that highlight the positive role that young people can have in making their schools and communities safer, including: - Tuesday, April 5, 2016: “Wear Orange Day.” We asked that the entire City of Baltimore wear orange as a symbol of Youth Violence Prevention.
- April 6/7, 2016: Held viewings and discussions of “Wounded Places,” from the Raising of America series, at the Amazing Grace Church
- April 8, 2016: Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake presented the 2016 Baltimorphosis Changemaker Award to “changemakers” in our community. Former Mayor Kurt Schmoke delivered the keynote address.
- April 8, 2016: Safe Street teams from Baltimore City and Prince George’s County held a community basketball tournament
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Dr. Wen Delivers Keynote to Center for Urban Families and Practitioners Leadership Institute on Trauma in our Communities This week, Dr. Wen had the privilege of delivering a keynote at the Center for Urban Families’ Practitioner Leadership Institute which convened social service leaders, including 11 PLI fellows, to discuss how to rebuild hope and create change in Baltimore. Dr.Wen shared how trauma affects communities in Baltimore and highlighted BCHD’s ongoing efforts to address trauma. “Violence and unrest do not happen in a vacuum. We must call out and address the underlying issues contributing to violence.” Dr.Wen stated. Dr. Wen and Kelleigh Eastman even led a naloxone training before the attendees following her remarks this week! Thank you to Center for Urban Families’ Founder, President, and CEO Joe Jones for his continued leadership and advocacy for communities across Baltimore! |
Next B’More Health Talks: Friday April 29th 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. We are on hold for this week, but our next HealthTalk is sure to be an interesting one! We hope you’ll join us for our next talk on Friday, April 29th, for a discussion on trauma and mental health. As always, you can join us 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. |
Dr. Wen Advocates for Baltimore across the Country Dr. Wen has been busy this week sharing Baltimore’s story with health practitioners and public health leaders across the country! Earlier this week, she traveled to Maine to deliver a keynote address at the Quality Counts conference in Maine on the importance of building clinical and community partnerships. Meanwhile Dr. Wen represented Baltimore at the Association of Health Care Journalists conference in Cleveland, Ohio, where she helped kick-of the conference with a discussion around the challenges and opportunities faced by urban areas across the country and the role of local health in combating systemic disparities. “It’s our duty to leverage public health to shine a spotlight on disparities and work together to level the playing field and achieve health equity. In Baltimore there is a 20-year life expectancy difference between wealthy and underserved neighborhoods. This isn’t about health; this is about justice.” Lean 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 openly sharing the progress we have made towards 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 viewing this content! Later this spring, we 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 Department 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 Zika situation is constantly evolving. We will be providing regular updates on our website at http://health.baltimorecity.gov/zika-virus and on twitter @BMore_Healthy, especially as we approach the Spring and Summer months. |
Events 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. 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 Purse & Pumps 1 Mile Awareness 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. |
