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Media Advisory
Webinar Will Examine Legislative Recommendations to Help Public Health Departments Prepare for the Next Pandemic
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Wednesday, Jan. 26
TIME: 8:30-10:15 a.m.
WHAT: Massachusetts Local Public Health Infrastructure: Protecting Public Health and
Preparing for the Next Pandemic,
co-hosted by the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum
and the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences
WHERE: Virtual Zoom event: Register here Agenda here
CONTACT: Patty Shillington, pshillington@umass.edu, 305-606-9909
The Massachusetts Health Policy Forum and the University of Massachusetts Amherst are hosting a free virtual forum that will examine the latest legislative recommendations and propose action steps to support a statewide local public health system that can adequately respond to the public health needs of all communities throughout the Commonwealth.
The forum, which will review efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, will feature an introduction by state Sen. Jo Comerford, who chairs the Joint Committee on Public Health, and presentations by a UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences team, including Anna Maria Siega-Riz, dean and professor; and researchers Laura Attanasio, Dr. Sarah Goff, Juliana Sopko and Parker Sweet.
A panel discussion will focus on the differences in local health departments’ capacity to meet increased public health needs, the lack of infrastructure to support them and potential solutions proposed by legislators and policy experts.
Siega-Riz will moderate the panel, which includes state Rep. Denise Garlick, chair of the House Committee on Bills in the Third Reading; Craig Andrade, associate dean of the practice, Boston University School of Public Health; Damon Chaplin, New Bedford’s director of public health for New Bedford; and Phoebe Walker, director of community services for the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.
Funding for the webinar comes from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Baystate Health.