The Queens Health Coalition (QHC) recently hosted its Teen Convention
at LaGuardia Community College. High School students throughout Queens
received helpful tips on healthy living from professionals who spoke
on a wide variety of topics ranging from driving safety, to smoking
cessation, to teen dating violence, to landing a dream job. The fifth
annual event is part of a program of QHC’s, funded by NYS Dept. of
Health/Division of Family Health, entitled the Comprehensive Prenatal
and Perinatal Services Network.
As Phyllis Shafran, QHC's Executive Director noted: “Many of these
teenagers are at-risk of making poor health and social choices which
will adversely affect their entire lives. We want them to know that
they have options. We don't want them to become another tragic
statistic because of drinking and driving on prom night. We don't want
them to regret having smoked those cigarettes when they reach age 30.
And, we want them to understand that they don't have to give in to
peer pressure! Abstinence is still the best deterrent to STDs, HIV and
unplanned births. Indeed, the message here today is simple: you can't
be on the top of your game, unless you make wise choices that keep you
in play.”
For more information concerning health and social issues for young
adults call the Queens Health Coalition at 718-762-0346.
The staff of QHC: Surinder Sandal, Phyllis Shafran, Gina Porras Quiroz, Karin Lamhaour, Moona Syed and Lorena Flores
Students register at the QHC table for a seat in the auditorium and to receive free lunch and prizes.
Students at the exhibit area, receiving valuable information and giveaways from more than one dozen health and social service providers.
In the auditorium, students were part of an interactive program in which they role played and won prizes.
Helping Create An Inclusive Society
Queens Forum Conference on Role and Responsibility of Ethnic and Local Media
The Queens Forum, a partnership of LaGuardia Community College and
CAUSE-NY, the intergroup relations division of the Jewish Community
Relations Council of NY, recently held a conference to discuss the
role and responsibility of ethnic and local media. It was part of an
ongoing series dedicated to “Creating an Inclusive Society.” This
program was held in conjunction with Immigrant Heritage Week, a
project of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. The Queens
Forum will host a Fall 2010 follow-up conference concentrating on
health care.
Panelists included (picture attached): Claudia Cruz, Editor, El
Correo; Marcia Comrie, Founding Editor and Associate Publisher, Press
of Southeast Queens; Renee Lobo, Producer and Anchor, ITV; Tina Lee,
Managing Director, World Journal; Rafael Nektalov, Editor-in-Chief,
Bukharian Times; Sam Sangki Han, President and Founder, The Korean
Channel; and Ranjit Singh, Regional Manager, Chardikala. The moderator
was Michael Nussbaum, Associate Publisher, Queens Tribune.
Among the community groups attending the conference was the Queens
Health Coalition (QHC). QHC’s Executive Director, Phyllis Shafran is
on the Queen Forum Steering Committee that helped plan this event
(pictured attached with QHC staff members Surinder Sandal and Gina
Quiroz). Ms. Shafran noted: “A large part of our job is outreach. We
try to connect people in need of health and social services with care
providers. But especially in Queens, the most culturally diverse
county in the nation, ethnic and local media play a vital role in
reaching segments of our population that would otherwise be isolated
and underserved. The message today is two-fold: community
organizations should understand the significant role that this media
can play in helping to achieve their mission, and ethnic and local
media must accept responsibility in helping to engage the people often
left in the margins of our society.”
Cuts To Health Care Making Us Sick
Protest State Public Health Care Cuts
A recent rally was held at Bellevue Hospital to protest proposed state
cuts to health care, felt especially hard by public hospitals and
other public health care providers. Public hospitals, for example,
stand to lose $68 million this year and up to $100 million over 3
years. Speakers addressing the more that 1000 attendees represented
the NYC Health and Hospital Corporation, community-based
health-related organizations, labor, and patients including: Alan
Aviles, President of the Health and Hospital Corporation; Lillian
Roberts, President of DC 37, the City’s largest municipal workers
union; and Arthur Cheliotes, President of the Communications Workers
of America, Local 1188.
Among the most passionate speeches were those from patients and
relatives who pondered their fate without having the service of public
facilities such as Bellevue. Nearly every speaker noted with alarm
the negative impact that the recent closing of two hospitals in Queens
and St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan will have. Fear of patient
overload on the part of those public facilities who take on the
disenfranchised patients in their community, leading to the possible
disruption or elimination of services, was a concern echoed throughout
the 1 hour rally.
Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of the Queens Health Coalition
attended the event and noted: “My organization links those in need of
health and social services with care providers. We help save lives
and money. However, when there are fewer providers for the public to
access, not just the individual in need is affected. The disease
untreated, the pregnancy without prenatal care and the elderly
caregiver without respite care make us all vulnerable. Indeed, these
cuts to health care are sickening!”
Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director, Queens Health Coalition.
At the podium, LaRay Brown, Senior VP, NYC Health and
Hospital Corp for Intergovernmental Relations. Speakers gathered in
back of Ms. Brown are: Lillian Roberts, President of DC 37(second from
Ms. Brown’s left); Alan Aviles, President, Health and Hospital Corp.
(second on her right); and (also on the right, at the end) Arthur
Cheliotes, President of the Communications Workers of America.
QHC at QPF: Tackling The Diversity of Queens County
The Queens Health Coalition (QHC) recently participated in the annual Spring conference of the Queens Perinatal Forum, which QHC Co-chairs with Long Island Jewish Medical Center/Queens Regional Perinatal Center. The conference was held at Jamaica Hospital and attended by 75 health care providers and health-related community-based organizations. The conference theme was “Your Today Determines Your Tomorrow”. Guest speakers included Joyce Hall of the Federation of County Networks and David Jones of Visiting Nurses/Fathers’ Initiative.
Ms. Hall presented the results of the Community Needs Assessment Report, conducted on behalf of QHC, as a means of understanding the needs of women of child- bearing age. The report’s findings will be used to help promote positive birth outcomes in Queens. Mr. Jones discussed strives being made to understand the role that a father can have in the development of a child. He heads a program that works with dads— some as young as 14—into accepting parental responsibility and involvement, while also dealing with their own issues. Both speakers noted that Queens County presents numerous barriers to quality health and social services not endured by the other boroughs.
As Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of QHC said: “Our borough has many unique features, of which we are proud, that set it apart from all of the others. But while we welcome and applaud the cultural richness that diversity brings— and the miles of beautiful beaches we possess— with these, come many challenges. We must find a way to successfully deal with a 70% birth rate by foreign born women, and a county that has a toll bridge within its own borders! In Queens, too many people are isolated from the care they need due to language and geography. We’re working to reduce the barriers. That’s why we’re here today. And that’s what the Queens Health Coalition is dedicated to, everyday.”
For information call 718-762-0346 and ask for Lorena at extension 12.
Phyllis Shafran, QHC Executive Director and Lorena Flores, Senior Health Educator of the Comprenshive Prenatal/Perinatal Services Network, a program of the Queens Health Coalition.
Queens Health Coalition Joins Smoke-free Partnership
The Queens Health Coalition has joined forces with the Queens Smoke-free Partnership to combat exposure to second-hand smoke.
At a recent press conference convened by Queen Borough President Helen
Marshall, Queens elected leaders and community-based organizations met
to pledge support for a new initiative funded by the New York State
Tobacco Control Program aimed at reducing tobacco-related death and
disease. 25,000 tobacco-related deaths are recorded in New York State
annually.
In addition to targeting second-hand smoke, another key component of
this program is to defend children against tobacco addiction. An
estimated 6,000 children living in Queens smoke, and one-third will
die prematurely.
Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn, a member of the Health Committee,
announced that she has introduced legislation to protect children
under the age of 16 from exposure to second-hand smoke while traveling
in a car. She was joined by the bill’s Co-sponsors Assembly members
Grace Meng and David Weprin. The bill calls for heavy fines for
drivers smoking with minors present. Underscoring the need for this
legislation is a California Environmental Agency’s report which stated
that exposure to closed car smoking is comparable to firefighters’
exposure to four to eight hours of fighting a wildfire.
Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of the Queens Health Coalition,
said: “Just ask anyone if there’s one good thing that can be said
about smoking. I’m sure we’d all agree: Smoking kills, smoking is
expensive, smoking stinks! Yet, 15.5% of Queens residents still do
it. Our organization is dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles by
making healthy choices, so it’s natural that we would join the efforts
of Queens Smoke-free Partnership and applaud the responsible
leadership of our elected officials who understand that nothing
positive can come from smoking. We are confident that this
collaborative effort will protect the vulnerable and save lives.”
For more information on joining this program or on programs for
smoking cessation, call Smoke-free Partnership at 718-520-4922 or the
Queens Health Coalition at 718-762-0346.
Pictured: Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director, Queens Health
Coalition; Jessica Safier, Program Manager, Queens Smoke-free
Partnership; Assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn; Helen Marshall, Queens
Borough President; Dan Carrigan, Program Director, Queens Smoke-free
Partnership; Assembly members Grace Meng and David Weprin.
QHC Celebrates The Year Of The Tiger
For the Queens Health Coalition (QHC), Happy New Year’s greetings, did not end January 1st. This community-based non-profit that links health care providers with those in need of care, recently welcomed Chinese New Year celebrants to its office to help usher in the Year of the Tiger. As QHC’s Executive Director Phyllis Shafran noted: “At QHC cultural diversity is among our greatest assets and we delighted to share in the richness of all ethnic groups. Indeed, we are proud of our multi-lingual staff and the diversity they represent which helps us to achieve our mission of serving the underserved communities of Queens, often at-risk due to their inability to navigate the system.”
For information about QHC call 718-762-0346
Helping Haiti
Queens Health Coalition’s Program Director, Rose Marie Dorvily, lent a helping hand to assist victim’s of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. Born in Haiti, many members of Ms. Dorvily’s family and friends felt the earthquake’s wrath, first-hand. Traveling back to her homeland in part to bring her mother to the United States from her hard-hit town, Rose was enlisted by the Haitian Consulate in New York to help coordinate activities to aid victims in Haiti. “The degree of destruction was overwhelming, but so too, was the spirit of the Haitian people to rebuilt and go on. Matched with this, were the many volunteers willing to band together to save lives and help to ease the pain, physically and emotionally,” said Rose upon her return.
Phyllis Shafran, QHC’s Executive Director noted: “We’re an organization dedicated to helping people and Rose’s efforts represent the ultimate application of our mission. I commend her and the volunteers who are succeeding in making a tragedy into a lesson in the kindness of strangers, the resolve of the human spirit and the difference that an individual can make in the lives of so many.”
For more information call Rose at: 718-762-0346 extension 14.
A group of 28 volunteers (doctors and nurses) at Atlanta Airport ready to board the plane flying to Haiti to offer their help. Once in the country, Rose Dorvily dispatched the group into several hospitals and clinics in order to help the many victims who are suffering and waiting for services.
Rose Dorvily at The “World Harvest New Life Children’s Home”, an orphanage converted into a pediatric discharge facility to receive the injured children or children after surgery because they lost their family and have no one to take care of them. Rose worked with the medical team of the University of Miami Hospital offering post-surgery follow up to the children.
Grandma the "Techie"
Thanks to a project of the Queens Health Coalition (QHC) entitled: Junior-SeniorPartnership, 15 young adults met with 15 older adults to swap information on communications. For the oldsters’ part, they reminisced about pre-high tech days: no cell phones, no computers, no text messaging. As one senior recalled: “In those days, you looked for a quarter and a pay phone; Google was just a dream and instantly knowing what your friend was up to, was unheard of and would be thought of as more information than you needed to know.” The teens were aghast! To them, a world without immediate communications; the need to own a library card and not sharing your every thought, every minute seemed, well, primitive.
Most of the older adults did admit that regardless of the simplicity and charm of “the good old days” they would gladly take on the trappings of this “new tech age” except for one problem: despite countless gifts of BlackBerrys, PCs and Sidekicks from their sons and daughters, few really understand how to work them.
As Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of QHC noted: “This is where the great value of the Junior-Senior Partnership is seen. While the teens welcomed the stories of surviving time-delayed information and the art of personal communications, the seniors left that day with email accounts set up, learning to Twitter and how to find the side effects of their new medication on Google.”
The next Junior-Senior Partnership program is being planned for mid-March. Participants receive a stipend, a MetroCard and refreshments. For more information call Moona at 718-762-0346 extension #13 or Lorena at extension #12.
Queens Health Coalition conducts the Junior-Senior Partnership, hosted by partnering agency, Voces Latinas of Sunnyside
QHC Supports QHC
Queens Hospital Center (QHC) recently hosted a legislative breakfast attended by City and State elected officials, members of its Community Advisory Board as well as community and faith-based organizations gathered to discuss the impact of budget cuts to health care. With an opening presentation by LaRay Brown, Senior Vice President of NYC Health and Hospital Corporation (HHC), who outlined a $1billion budget cut to HHC in the proposed State 2011 Budget, concerned community leaders voiced outrage, especially for the nearly one half million uninsured patients it treats annually. Attendee Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of Queens Health Coalition (QHC) noted: “As a small community-based organization linking those in need of care with care providers, it’s very painful to see the struggle to maintain services at all levels. Both QHCs are grappling with how to do more with less.”
Pictured: NYS Senator Frank Padavan (standing) addresses other elected officials as well as members of Queens Hospital Center’s Community Advisory Board, its Executive Director, George Proctor (seated, center right) and health-related community organizations such as Queens Health Coalition, represented by its Executive Director, Phyllis Shafran (center).
BABIES ON BOARD! QHC HOSTS BABY SHOWER
The Queens Health Coalition (QHC) recently held its annual community baby shower for Queens moms-to-be and for women with children under four years of age. This year, the festivities featured a maternity fashion show sponsored by Pea In The Pod in which several pregnant audience members had a chance to model for the nearly 150 guests.
Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of QHC said: "Many of these young women would not have had a baby shower of their own, so we're delighted to give them one. They need support and encouragement at this important time in their lives, which goes a long way toward helping to promote healthy birth outcomes and infant development. We thought that along with dinner, prizes, and some "motherly" advice, the chance to strut the "run way" would help these ladies-in-waiting have a greater sense of their own beauty-in and out."
For more information concerning women and men of child-bearing age, call Queen Health Coalition at 718-762-0346.
QHC's Sweet Welcome
QHC TEAM: Moona Syed, Phyllis Shafran, Lorena Flores, Gina Porras, Rose Marie Dorvily, Karin Lamhaouar, Surinder Sandal
Pea In The Pod enables "model" audience members to hit the run way with lovely maternity fashions.
Crowds enjoy food, fun and fashions at the annual baby shower
Creating an Inclusive Society-Revisiting
the American Dream
The Queens Health Coalition (QHC) recently participated in a community dialogue entitled: Creating an Inclusive Society-Revisiting the American Dream sponsored by The Queens Forum-which is a partnership of LaGuardia Community College and CAUSE-NY/Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) NY-that is dedicated to community engagement in social issues of our time. QHC's Executive Director, Phyllis Shafran was on the panel of distinguished speakers that included NYC Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott and the Commissioner and Chair of the Human Rights Commission, Patricia Gatling. In addition to Ms. Shafran the panel included: Bishop Mitchell Taylor, Founder and President, East River Development Alliance; LaRay Brown, Senior VP, NYC Health and Hospitals Corp; John Park, President, Korean American Community Empowerment Council; Antoinette Hamilton, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, L'Oreal USA; Marva Kalish, Outreach Coordinator, Queens Chamber of Commerce; David Banks, President, Eagle Academy Foundation; Dr. Peter Katopes, VP for Academic Affairs LaGuardia Community College; Maura Bluestone, President and CEO, Affinity Health Plan; NYS Assemblyman Rory Lancman, 25th AD; Daniel Dromm, NYC Councilman-elect, 25th Council District and Jessie Sligh, Executive Assistant, office of Queens District Attorney, Richard Brown.
Rabbi Bob Kaplan, Director, CAUSE-NY/JCRC-NY presents a call to action as panel looks on.
Moderator, Michael Nussbaum, Associate Publisher, Queens Tribune engages the panel and the audience in discussion.
QHC staff-Lorena Flores, Rose Marie Dorvily and Moona Syed distribute educational information to the gathered guests.
QHC staffer Surinder (Sandy) Sandal engages a member the community.
Phyllis Shafran Honored by
Queensboro Council for Social Welfare
At a recent awards ceremony luncheon, Queensboro Council for Social Welfare (QCSW), in its 87th year of offering comprehensive support and assistance to providers of services for social and human needs, recognized Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director of the Queens Health Coalition among its honorees. The other honorees were: Jack Friedman, Executive Vice President of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Galante, CEO, Queens Library and Joan Serrano Laufer, Executive Director of QCSW.
In accepting her award, Shafran told the audience: "Maya Angelou said: 'I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with catchers mitts on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.' The people in this room-this organization and my organization-know about giving back. You help others to retain their dignity. You put hope in their hearts. I am honored to be counted among you."
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall calls Phyllis Shafran to the podium to accept her award
Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and QCSW President Thomas Tedeschi Esq. present Phyllis Shafran with her award
At QHC's booth before the luncheon, staff and partners met with other professionals to exchange business
cards and educational materials. Top row: QHC's Karin Lamhaouar, Rose Marie Dorvily, Moona Syed and Phyllis Shafran Bottom Row: Connect's Anindita ChatterjeeBhaumik, QHC's Gina Porras and Lorena Flores
Day Out For Providers of "Time Out"
To say "Thank You" to caregivers of the elderly for the invaluable role they play in the lives of both the individual senior citizen and society at-large, Queens Health Coalition (QHC) helped organize a day out to offer some respite care for caregivers-who are often family members and elderly themselves. QHC, working in conjunction with other health care organizations, (Elmhurst Hospital, HANAC, Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation, Pragati, Queens Community House and the Samuel Field YM/WHA) is part of a NYC Department of the Aging's Caregivers' Respite Care Program, which offers the caregiver respite care. As QHC's Executive Director, Phyllis Shafran noted: "We think it is very important to give a day out to the people who give us a 'time out'. Caregivers can put a smile on an older adult's face, offer conversation mixed with compassion and enable the elderly to enjoy the comforts of home. To the aged person, this is the medicine no prescription drug can provide, and is less expensive than institutional care. We want to acknowledge the emotional support and economic savings they provide and show our appreciation by giving a little respite to them too". For more information call the Queens Health Coalition at 718-762-0346x13 and ask for Moona.
Queensbridge Riis Senior Shakers presented by Queens Health Coalition
Tsu Chi Foundation's Sign Language Singing presented by NYC HHC Elmhurst Hospital Center
Bayside Glee Club presented by HANAC
Music with Shira Fishkin presented by Queens Community House
Queens Health Coalition: Moona Syed, Case Manger; Lorena Flores, Senior Health Educator; Surinder Sandal, Fiscal Officer; Margarita Servillano, volunteer; Phyllis Shafran, Executive Director and Karim Lamhaouar, Health Educator.
Health Care Consumers Meet Providers At QHC’s Open House
The Queens Health Coalition (QHC) recently hosted an Open House inviting health care providers to meet with the communities they serve throughout Queens. The event also enabled providers to meet and network with their colleagues and gain valuable contacts to better serve the consumer. More than 100 people were in attendance. As QHC Executive Director Phyllis Shafran explained: "Our organization is dedicated to providing vital links between those in need of care and the care givers. Although we regularly go into the various communities of this borough to enlighten, enlist and educate the public on what health care programs exist and how to access them, we thought it would be a novel approach to bring everyone here to our office and let them meet, mingle, have some healthy snacks and see the abundance of help that is available, accessible and affordable."
Julia Block, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Breastfeeding Coordinator, discusses with the audience the advantages of breastfeeding to both mother and child.
The QHC Team:Surinder Sandal, Lorena Flores, Phyllis Shafran, Gina Porras and Moona Syed.
Queens Health Coalition your link to quality care Call Us: 718-762-0346
