The United Way of Lancaster County will host its second virtual community health conversation from 9 to 10 a.m. on Friday, May 14, focusing on vaccines and the challenges around equity, fair access and hesitancy.
The hour will begin with a presentation by Brenda Buescher, Health Promotion Specialist at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, comparing the state and local vaccination allocations, completion rates and impacted populations. A Q&A will follow.
A panel comprised of local leaders then discuss how equity is (and isn't) being focused on with vaccine distribution. This discussion will also be followed by a Q&A.
The panelists will be as follows:
- Jon Carlson, Lead Pastor, Forest Hills Mennonite Church;
- Luz Colon, Member of the Governor's Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, Pa. COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force Racial Equity Subcommittee
- Dr. Cherise Hamblin, Founder/President, Patients R Waiting ObGyn, Co-Chair Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Officer of Diversity & Inclusion, Lancaster General Family & Community Medicine Residency Program;
- Daniel L. Jurman, D. Min., Executive Director, Office of Advocacy & Reform for the Office of Gov. Tom Wolf, Pa. COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force Racial Equity Subcommittee;
- Kevin Ressler, President & CEO of United Way of Lancaster County, Chair of Meals on Wheels of Lancaster, Vice Chair for Partnership for Public Health, member of Landis Quality Living, member of UPMC Lititz, member of LG/Penn Mission and Community Benefit Committee, COVID-19 Vaccine Joint Task Force Racial Equity Subcommittee;
The event will be moderated by Susan Baldrige, executive director of the Partnership for Public Health.
The forum is free and open to the public. Those who wish to register can do so here or by visiting the event's Facebook page. Registrants will be sent a link to the recording afterward.
The United Way's initial online community conversation on public health took place in March. Panelists made the case for increasing local health capacity to address inequities, improve data gathering and remediate environmental factors that contribute to poor health outcomes.
(Editor's Note: This post was edited on May 13 to update the event details and list of panelists.)
