Future of Health Care 2020

THE FUTURE THE FUTURE OF HEALTH OF HEALTH CARE // HEALTH CARE // PATIENT CARE EQUITY CARE
of the driving forces behind the Live
Well Erie Task Force, commissioned by
Erie County and involving more than
40 partner groups.
Live Well kicked off in October
and remains nascent, but Craik said
behind-the-scenes work is focused on
synthesizing data, deciding on specific
initiatives and then finding community-based
evangelists to be the faces of
the effort.
A report by summer will summarize
what they’ve learned.
“What we’re hoping to do is create
a movement and culture change,” he
said. “It’s the kind of thing that will
manifest itself 10 to 15 to 20 years from
now.”
One clinical hub for equitable
health care is Jericho Road Community
Health Center, which has grown
substantially since opening 23 years
ago. It became a federally qualified
health center in 2013.
Until Covid-19 forced the closure of
its Genesee Street facility, there were
three health centers in Buffalo. The
newest opened in 2018 on Broadway
on the East Side.
“Our goal has always been to serve
the most vulnerable in our communities,”
said Dr. Allana Krolikowski,
Jericho Road’s chief medical officer.
“We’re in the business of taking care
of people who aren’t taken care of in
other places.”
Krolikowski said African-American
and Hispanic populations suffer
from implicit societal bias and racism,
which contributes to quantifiably
worse health outcomes for both
groups.
Rodney Haring is director of the Center for Indigenous Cancer Center at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Jericho Road took care of more than
20,000 unique patients last year, most
of whom were on Medicaid.
While the health center represents
the community-based clinical end of
the spectrum, Western New York’s
research hubs also are taking aim at
the issue of health-care disparities.
Rodney Haring, director of the Center
for Indigenous Cancer Research at
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer
Center, recently hosted a live fireside
chat with leaders of indigenous groups
across the United States and Canada
The Population Health Collaborative, headed by John Craik, is pushing to improve health outcomes throughout
Western New York. “It’s the kind of thing that will manifest itself 10 to 15 to 20 years from now,” he says.
FILE PHOTO
FILE PHOTO
about cancer, health disparities and
the Covid-19 epidemic.
Haring is a research faculty member
at Roswell in its Cancer Prevention
and Populations Sciences Division, an
adjunct faculty member at the University
of Arizona and a National Congress
of American Indians scholar. He is an
enrolled member of the Seneca Nation
of Indians and resides on the Cattaraugus
Reservation with his family.
Haring said health-care equity
issues affect rural communities
as well, particularly ones that serve
indigenous populations. He said those
cohorts face the same elevated levels
of cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders
and other diseases, stemming
from socioeconomic and access issues.
The coronavirus situation is shining
a light on the resiliency and
sense of community in many of those
populations.
“One of the things I’m seeing
among all communities and people is
coming together in the spirit of innovation
and creativity,” he said. “It’s
bringing people together to be resilient
and to work together in ways they
haven’t before.”
Haring is working to ensure clinical
trials and federal research opportunities
extend to populations that are
being hit the hardest.
“It’s especially important for indigenous
people and African-American
and Latino populations that are facing
some of today’s greatest health
inequities,” he said. “Universities and
research organizations that have clinical
trials need to make sure they are
including the populations that are
being hit the hardest.”
MAY 15, 2020 THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE 35