|
|
Reception for Dr. JudyAnn Bigby and John
Auerbach
Please join the
Massachusetts Public Health Association in
honoring the commonwealth's new public health
leaders, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby, Secretary of Health and
Human Services and John Auerbach, Commissioner,
Department of Public Health.
Thursday, April 12,
5:30pm at The Boston Foundation, 75 Arlington Street,
Boston. Click here
for directions.
Celebrate a new day for
public health in Massachusetts! Welcome JudyAnn and John
at this free reception. Open to the public; light
refreshments will be served.
Please RSVP to
mpha@mphaweb.org.
Contact Roberta Friedman with any questions at
617-524-6696 ext.103 or rfriedman@mphaweb.org.
Championing
Environmental Health
“Audit calls
inspection shortages dangerous” shouted the Boston Globe
headline.
The story was prompted by a state
auditor’s report on inadequate food inspections in
Massachusetts, and the timing for the call to action
could not have been better. MPHA has tackled a new
budget priority this year – Environmental Health
Services, a division of the Department of Public Health
that runs the state’s food safety
program.
Environmental Health provides basic
support for communities across the commonwealth. It
operates nine programs, most notably indoor air quality
and food safety. Due to budget cuts, there are only two
state-funded indoor air quality inspectors, both located
in Boston, responsible for inspecting schools and other
public buildings across the state. Similarly, the food
safety program is also understaffed, as the auditor’s
report determined.
Intern Angela Maina, a
graduate student at Boston University, has been
spearheading MPHA’s efforts to boost funding for the
Environmental Health line item to $8.3 million. We’ve
identified several legislative champions, including
Senators Susan Fargo and Pam Resor, and Representatives
Mary Grant and Denise Provost, and have been conducting
outreach to health departments, environmental groups,
and other organizations to build support for the
division.
To contact your legislators in support
of Environmental Health, click
here. For more information, or to get involved,
contact Angela Maina at MPHA:
617-524-6696, ext.112; amaina@mphaweb.org.
Closing Corporate
Tax Loopholes
Massachusetts is facing
a $1 billion deficit, placing funds for education,
health, and other important services at risk. A broad
coalition of organizations, including MPHA, is
championing proposals by Governor Patrick to raise
revenue in a fair and responsible way.
The
coalition’s focus is on closing corporate tax loopholes,
which would level the playing field for small
businesses, while raising revenue to invest in services
that fuel our economy and benefit everyone, including
businesses. Patrick’s loophole closure proposals would
raise nearly $400 million in FY08 and over half a
billion dollars next year.
The campaign faces a
difficult battle, with both Speaker DiMasi and Senate
President Murray saying that funding from closing
corporate loopholes will not be included in their
respective Ways and Means budgets. However, the
coalition is mobilizing people to contact their
legislators, encouraging people to voice their support
at Governor Patrick’s community forums, and embarking on
a letter-to-the-editor campaign.
To contact your
legislators, click
here. For more information, or to get involved,
contact Eric Weltman at MPHA: 617-524-6696, ext. 111; eweltman@mphaweb.org.
Hepatitis
C
|
|
|
Representative Carl
Sciortino
and MPHA intern Melody
Hugo |
On
March 28, over 50 legislative staff, activists, and
health professionals attended a State House forum to
discuss efforts to stem the hepatitis C epidemic. The
forum was sponsored by the Massachusetts Hepatitis C
Coalition, which is staffed by MPHA.
The
coalition is seeking to retain the separate hepatitis C
line item, which H. 1 collapses into a new disease
prevention line item, and fund it at $2 million. For
more information, or to get involved, contact Melody
Hugo at MPHA: 617-524-6696 x102; mhugo@mphaweb.org.
Preventing
Childhood Obesity
 MPHA continues to build support for
our bill to prohibit the sale of junk food and
sugar-packed drinks in schools. In the past month, we’ve
garnered the endorsements of over 60 organizations and
hundreds of individuals, from community health centers
to city councilors. Click
here for a fact sheet, list of organizations, and
endorsement form. In March, we held a successful
strategy session in Boston, with over 30 students and
activists discussing how to support the bill.
But
much more needs to be done to create strong momentum for
the bill prior to its public hearing at the State House.
Please help us create that momentum!
Email
your legislators and urge them to champion the
bill.
Fill out the endorsement
form.
Attend our next strategy meeting at
MPHA’s Boston office on Wednesday, April 18, 6-8pm.
Click here for directions.
Contact Roberta
Friedman for more information or to RSVP.
In
central Massachusetts, contact Community Organizer
Sara
Kanevsky to get involved. In western
Massachusetts, contact Community Organizer AJ Juarez to get
involved.
Register Today
for Our Health, Our
Future!
Our Health, Our
Future, MPHA's 5th annual celebration and awards
dinner, will be held on Thursday, April 26th
at the Boston Park Plaza. Registration and
cocktail reception begin at 5:30pm, dinner and awards program at
6:30pm.
This year we are proud to
honor:
Matt Fishman, Vice
President of Community Health at Partners Healthcare,
Paul Revere Award
Zoila Torres Feldman, President
& CEO of the Great Brook Valley Health Center,
Lemuel Shattuck Award
Ali Noorani, Executive Director
of Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy
Coalition (MIRA), Alfred L. Frechette
Award
Register
online!
Sponsorship opportunities
are still available. For more
information, contact Kara Keenan: 617-524-6696,
ext. 113; kkeenan@mphaweb.org
Farewell to Rob
Friedman
 Roberta “Rob” Friedman,
MPHA’s Director of Education, is moving on to a new
adventure. After 7 years at MPHA, Rob is taking a
position with Yale University’s Rudd Center on Food
Policy and Obesity. She will be taking her advocacy
efforts to a national level as the Associate Director of
Public Policy and Government Initiatives.
All of
the staff and board members at MPHA will miss Rob
tremendously, as will her colleagues on the many
coalitions and committees in which she is a leader. Rob
has been at the very forefront of the childhood obesity
crisis. We appreciate all that she has done for MPHA and
for Massachusetts, and look forward to working with her
in her new position.
Central
Massachusetts Organizing
In Central
Massachusetts, MPHA is continuing its efforts on school
health services, school nutrition, environmental health,
and other regional matters.
The MPHA regional
committee met in March to discuss expanding our work in
the region. Community Organizer Sara Kanevsky will be
meeting with the Greater Gardner Interagency Team to
identify ways to work with existing coalitions in the
area. Committee member Dawn Clark is going to work with
other community health networks to identify other public
health allies.
Also at the regional committee
meeting, Jennifer Moiles, a Worcester public school
parent, discussed her plans to pull together a group of
parents in support of improving child health through
better school nutrition and physical activity. On
Moiles’ agenda is building public support for the School
Nutrition bill.
Several strategy meetings are also in
the works. Piper Lillard, a UMass Medical School
Preventive Medicine Resident, helped put together a
meeting to plan ways that health providers can support
the Safer Alternatives bill. And on April 5, a
meeting was held to discuss building support for school
health services with Antonia Blinn, Massachusetts
Coalition of School-Based Health Centers, Sarah Rulnick,
Family Health Center, Donna Hoey, Coordinator of Nursing
Services, Worcester Public Schools and
others.
For more information, contact Sara
Kanevsky at MPHA: 508-414-0976; sara.kanevsky@gmail.com.
Western
Massachusetts
MPHA Executive Director
Geoff Wilkinson spoke at the UMass School of Public
Health’s annual research day celebration, hosted by
Assistant Dean of Practice, Idalí Torres. A
dynamic student poster session
included presentations on school wellness
policies, healthcare access, exercise physiology, and
other relevant topics.
National Public Health
Month celebrations are underway in Springfield. MPHA’s
forum on regionalization is one of the many events
highlighting public health practices. Click
here to view a list of Public Health Month events
taking place in Springfield. Our budget advocacy
is in full swing, and we are scheduling district
meetings with elected officials and various legislative
trainings throughout our region.
MPHA is
delighted to offer “congratulations!” to regional
committee member Dan Gerber, named outstanding community
teacher for the UMass Amherst campus and to Helen
Coulton-Harris, Director of the Springfield Health
Department, for being named Greater Springfield
outstanding women of the year by the United States
Postal Service.
For more information, contact AJ
Juarez at MPHA: 413-750-2060; ajjuarez@verizon.net.
18th Annual
Western MA Elder Care Conference
Creating
Healthy Lifestyles as We Age: The 18th Annual Western
Massachusetts Elder Care Conference
Wednesday,
May 23, 2007
8:15 am – 4:00 pm
The Springfield
Sheraton
The conference will feature 20 workshops
on important issues affecting elders today. It is a
program for elder care providers, administrators,
educators and policy-makers.
For more
information, or to download the event brochure and
registration form, visit the MPHA
website.
Renew your
membership today!
MPHA has won
important victories in the past year and your
voice and your membership were critical to these
victories. We have an ambitious agenda laid out for the
coming months and we need your continued
support.
Please show your support by taking a
moment to renew your membership online
or by
mail. For more information, contact Kara Keenan:
617-524-6696 ext.113; kkeenan@mphaweb.org.
| | | |
