A community conversation at the Highlander earlier this month included themes of providing more pathway opportunities for students, ensuring community health navigators are assigned appropriately to patients and making certain that health fairs and health-improvement opportunities are well communicated.
UNMC Interim Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, and members of the UNMC leadership team participated in the discussion with North Omaha community leaders and related organizations. In all, nearly four dozen individuals took part to exchange ideas on how UNMC could best serve the community.
“I’m grateful to all of the community members who voiced their support and concerns during the community conversation,” Dr. Davies said. “Only through working together will we make meaningful improvements to the health of all of our communities.”
University administrators in medicine, public health, nursing, pharmacy and other disciplines shared numerous examples of pathway programs from Recruit, Encourage and Advance Careers in Health (REACH) to Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP), as well as the newly launched Mary Eliza Mahoney Mentoring Program within the UNMC College of Nursing that has several participants from North Omaha.
Attendees suggested augmenting existing programs through expanded partnerships with community colleges, Omaha Public Schools and others. They emphasized the importance of students in urban settings continuing to have opportunities to pursue health careers. Those interests, they said, often emerge as early as grade school.
The Rev. Portia Cavitt facilitated the discussion at the Highlander. She asked whether pathway programs for underserved urban populations are seeing the same success rate as similar programs for other groups.
“It’s important that we continue to provide targeted opportunities for individuals, providing them with the opportunities to become health care professionals,” Cavitt said. “It’s important that UHOP (the Urban Health Opportunities Program) and other initiatives are inclusive and successful. I’m pleased that Dr. Davies and his team were receptive to our input, and I look forward to continued follow-up throughout our community.”
UNMC and Nebraska Medicine leaders must be present in the community, attendees said. Investments in health activities within the urban core demonstrate commitment to those areas, they said, as does communication regarding wellness initiatives. Access to health care can be complex, and navigators are necessary to ensure appropriate follow-up and follow-through with patients.
Many attendees expressed interest in the med center’s Genetics Insights Project, a community health research program that provides awareness into one’s inherited risk for certain cancers.
Community members thanked UNMC and Nebraska Medicine for all the work they do in North Omaha, including the services provided by the Community Wellness Collaborative, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary in the Highlander building.
When asked what community members could do for UNMC, Dr. Davies emphasized an integrated approach and the “three A’s.”
“We need your unbridled advice, we need your advocacy, and we need you to be our ambassadors,” Dr. Davies said. “We know that none of us has all the answers, and we certainly can’t implement meaningful solutions alone. This really takes everyone at the table.”
Following the community conversation, Dr. Davies and members of his leadership team toured the Charles Drew Health Center and met with CEO Kenny McMorris.
“It was incredibly beneficial to see firsthand all that is happening at Charles Drew, from patient care to inclusion of our trainees and students into their clinical work,” Dr. Davies said. “We will continue to look for ways to partner with them, to better serve the community and provide opportunities for our students and residents.”