With the creation of its Health Institute, Ascension Saint Agnes has taken a leading role in addressing healthcare disparities and social determinants of health that negatively impact patients and the Baltimore area community. Recently, Ascension Saint Agnes brought together 200 healthcare professionals, agency representatives and associates to consider population- and community-based approaches to these important issues at the Karl F. Mech Jr., MD, Symposium on Healthcare Disparities and Vulnerable Populations.
The Ascension Saint Agnes Department of Surgery created the event to invite caregivers to explore empathy for patients and others in the community as an essential component in providing care for all persons as exemplified by former Ascension Saint Agnes surgeon Dr. Mech’s lifelong commitment and dedication to Ascension Saint Agnes patients. Juan Sanchez, MD, Chair, Department of Surgery, opened the event by thanking Dr. Mech for his leadership in advocating that physicians have an obligation to promote high-quality healthcare in the community.
Attendees were asked to consider their own solutions to issues including food insecurity and childhood trauma through a short film, “Inherit the Earth,” produced by Bob Fish, D.Min., Senior Director, Ministry Formation, Ascension. The documentary portrait looks at the lives and challenges faced by young people in the southwest Baltimore neighborhoods Saint Agnes serves. The film set the stage for the discussions that followed.
Keynote speaker Nilesh Kalyanaraman, MD, FACP, Chief Medical Officer, Health Care for the Homeless, Inc., and newly announced Health Officer for the Anne Arundel County Department of Health, explored the intersections of social policy and health through the lens of housing. He began by giving context to issues such as poverty, homelessness and lifespan in Baltimore City neighborhoods using maps that align current population health disparity metrics with historical maps of redlined neighborhoods used to limit access to housing for minorities. Dr. Kalyanaraman argued that healthcare providers and organizations cannot tackle acute health conditions sustainably without treating the disproportionate impact of social determinants of health, such as homelessness and poverty.
The approach was seconded by representatives from the Health Institute. Ashley Kinder, MD, Medical Director, Saint Agnes Health Institute, introduced attendees to Ascension Saint Agnes’ efforts to make connections between other determinant issues such as adverse childhood exposure or toxic stress and increased risk of health concerns.
Jen Broaddus, Director, Population Health, and members of the Health Institute’s social work team demonstrated how co-determinant health issues such as addiction and mental health can interfere with and even derail a patient’s ability to clearly receive news of a diagnosis and treatment plan.
To combat these roadblocks, Ascension Saint Agnes identified the primary issues faced by patients and crafted screening guides, resource materials for outside assistance, events such as Narcan training, and other service offerings including its Food Rx program’s approach to increasing access to healthy and affordable food.
The Mech Symposium is just one component of the ongoing work at Ascension Saint Agnes and throughout the region to advance solutions for the important issues of disparities in healthcare and the social determinants that play a role in fueling them.
Photo: From left, Nilesh Kalyanaraman, MD, FACP, Health Officer, Anne Arundel County Department of Health; Juan Sanchez, MD, Chair, Department of Surgery, Ascension Saint Agnes; and Karl F. Mech Jr., MD.
