MAHOPAC,  NY—The eleventh Public Health Summit drew record crowds yesterday, while ushering in several firsts. More than 100 attendees gathered at the Putnam County Golf Course in Mahopac, a new location for the event, and had the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker Andrew Bell, PhD, a licensed clinical psychologist who spoke on “Creating Trauma-Informed Systems and Equity of Outcomes.” Building on the theme of this year’s event “Making Connections,” an inaugural poster session allowed attendees to present the work of their organizations in a visual format to highlight their successes and challenges.  Also, for the first time, the event featured the presentation of a Community Health Improvement Award to honor an individual who has demonstrated committed efforts to health improvement by addressing social determinants of health and collaborating with diverse stakeholders, among other criteria.

Interim Health Commissioner Michael J. Nesheiwat, MD, welcomed the crowd, saying “It is the collaboration that goes on with our partners in the community and other county agencies, many of whom are here today, that allows us all to be so collectively responsive to the mental and physical health needs of our community. Last week the health department received word that we had passed our national review by PHAB, the public health accreditation board. We are maintaining our accreditation for the next five years—and we could not have done it without each and every one of you here today—So thank you.”

County Executive Kevin Byrne also greeted attendees, saying, “Putnam County is a place where anyone, regardless of their background, has an opportunity to be healthy and successful. And it is the people in this room that make that possible. Our community partners and our county agencies work so well together and are continually learning and exploring new ways to ensure and improve the health and well-being of our community. It is one of the reasons why we consistently do well in the health rankings, and it makes me proud to be a part of this county and this group of committed individuals as we move forward.”

In the keynote address, Dr. Andrew Bell who currently leads the efforts toward trauma-informed system change at the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health, talked about trauma and resilience as “active ingredients” in the social determinants of health. “With better understanding of the neuroscience of stress and resilience, and the social factors that impact our health, we can improve the way we deliver healthcare,” said Dr. Bell, who has been program director in Westchester since 2009. Resilience he defined as the capacity to shift to a state where “we feel safe, connected and self-regulated.” These characteristics he called the “three pillars of resilience....and it is this shift that transforms, empowers and gives us agency. It allows us to be connected to the world around us.” Dr. Bell continued, pointing out that societal and cultural biases about disease and healing affect how patients are treated. “These biases create blind spots and have adverse effects for all concerned,” he said. “With increased knowledge and understanding we can transform the delivery of health care and improve outcomes, creating true equity for all.”

The group also heard from the health department’s epidemiologist, Alison Kaufman, DVM, MPH, and Putnam Hospital Center president Mark Hirko, MD. Dr. Kaufman neatly delineated how the health department with partner assistance assesses community health, including both in a continuous manner, as in real-time community surveillance, and on a cyclical basis for specialized reporting, for example, to the state health department or PHAB. Data is also obtained through survey development and distribution when specific information is needed to develop a program or intervention. Dr. Hirko talked candidly about the hospital’s challenges, citing healthcare workforce attrition, while at the same time highlighting recent achievements in re-opening Putnam Hospital Center’s birthing center and re-establishing its behavioral health hospitalization programs.

The Community Health Improvement Award, presented for the first time, went to Victoria Metz, certified recovery peer advocate at the Prevention Council of Putnam, who was honored for the vital work she does helping Putnam residents on their path to recovery by connecting them with support and services to achieve positive outcomes. The award was given by the Live Healthy Putnam coalition, whose mission is to improve individual and community health and wellbeing for all residents by addressing social determinants of health through education, advocacy, and collaboration. Each of the nearly three dozen coalition member organizations were given a chance to nominate a candidate of their choice and all organizations were allotted one vote. Victoria received the most votes of the six highly qualified candidates.

Poster sessions, a traditional part of academic conferences and meetings where researchers present their methods and results and promote their findings, added another new activity to the day. Nearly two dozen posters depicted health challenges in the county, what is being done, and what still lies ahead. The displays offered attendees a chance to circulate, and learn more about others’ work in a fun, visual way, while connecting with like-minded groups or others who have client populations in common.

The mission of the Putnam County Department of Health is to improve and protect the health of the Putnam County community. The department, nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB), serves a community composed of nearly 100,000 residents. Core services are provided through a lens of equity, and include community health assessment, disease surveillance and control, emergency preparedness, environmental health protection, family health promotion and health education. For more information, please visit the County website at www.putnamcountyny.com, or visit our social media sites on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram @PutnamHealthNY.