UMass FMCH Tuesday Talk - April 19, 2022/COMMUNITY
Welcome to the FMCH Tuesday Talk. Please continue to send us your announcements, celebrations, and accomplishments to FMCHtuesdaytalk@umassmed.edu.
Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Focus of the Week - Community
Announcements
Faculty Presentations/Publications
Frankly Speaking Podcast
Clinical Services Spotlight
Upcoming Events

FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, April 19th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Amanda Koziel, MD, presents: "Hepatitis B in Primary Care".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

FMCH Grand Rounds
Tuesday, April 26th, 12:00 - 1:00 pm. Rebecca Gwaltney, MD, and Claudeleedy Pierre, MD, present: "Intrauterine Fetal Demise".
Meeting ID: 191 986 273 Passcode: FMCH

Spring Department of Family Medicine and Community Health Retreat:  
Vision 2030 - The Next Chapter for FMCH
Save the Date: Friday - May 20, 2022 
8:00am-6:00pm
Plan for in-person retreat at South Street Campus, Shrewsbury
Focus of the Week - Community

Focus on work at the intersection of health & criminal-legal system
The 15th Academic and Health Policy Conference on Criminal Justice Health took place April 6-8, 2022, hosted by the Health and Criminal Justice Program based at Commonwealth Medicine and UMass Chan Medical School. Warren Ferguson is the founder of the conference and has directed this peer-reviewed research and policy conference for 15 years. The 340 participants, from 5 countries, 35 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, represent diverse fields from 130 institutions. The three plenary sessions focused on the impact of structural racism as a cause of mass incarceration in the United States from different perspectives: sociology, mental health, and geospatial epidemiology. UMass Chan was well represented among the 105 presentations and academic posters:
  • Ekaterina Pivovorova, PhD: Assistant Professor of FMCH: Communication and Collaboration between Recovery Courts and Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Providers
  • Emma Dudley, MS2 and AHEC Urban Scholar: The Interaction of Recovery Court Participants with Structures of Support
  • Jack Gettens, PhD, Assistant Professor of FMCH, Emilia Dunham and Erica Ferreira, Commonwealth Medicine: Evaluation of the Massachusetts Behavioral Health Supports for Justice Involved Individuals Demonstration Program (BH-JI)
  • David Smelson, PsyD, Professor of Psychiatry and colleagues: Implementing a Cooccurring Disorder Intervention in Veteran Treatment Courts: Maintaining Independence and Sobriety through Systems Integration, Outreach and Networking-Criminal Justice (MISSION-CJ)
  • Katharine London, MS & Meaghan Dupuis, LMCH, Commonwealth Medicine: Providing Medicaid Coverage to Incarcerated Individuals in Massachusetts a Federal Waiver request
  • Becky Baltich Nelson, MLS, Lamar Souter Library: Librarian Support for Criminal Justice Health Research

So many ways to help: We’re spreading the word for our friends at WPI who are organizing a community furniture drive at the end of the month to support the work of refugee resettlement. Donations will be collected at the WPI Alumni Stadium on the corner of Park Ave and Institute Road from 7am – 2pm on April 29th and 30th. Visit https://forms.gle/DJM79P3rdvJ9hD2o8 or scan the QR code in the attached graphic to sign up for a drop-off time. If you’d like to get more involved with the volunteers setting up apartments and welcoming refugees, reach out to Heather-Lyn Haley and she’ll help you connect.
 
The stats as of March 2022  (source: United Way of Central Massachusetts)
  • 749 Afghan arrivals living in Worcester/Central Massachusetts
  • More than 110 children enrolled in/at Worcester Public Schools
  • 81 different ESL classes that new arrivals may take or participate in
  • More than 40 arrivals employed by Imperial Distributors, UMass Chan Medical School and Wegmans
  • 20 Afghan students engaged in music lessons with Neighborhood Strings
  • 150 home cooked, hot, Halal appropriate meals delivered every night
  • 20 weekly shopping trips of Afghan arrival families to appropriate food markets
  • Nightly ‘triage’ asking about ills and ailments, with follow up medical appointments made next morning
  • 3 babies born and 12 more on the way
  • Our local United Way of Central Massachusetts, using funds from their MacKenzie Scott gift, seeded the Worcester Together Afghan Refugee Work Group Fund with an initial donation of $100,000. This fund has now exceeded $1,000,000 in pledges and payments.
  • WPI’s business school helped complete a website to help direct the local community to these collaborative efforts needed to resettle Afghan and other refugees into Worcester and the surrounding area.
Furniture Drive
For more information on the furniture drive, reach out to Katie Bilotta, Director, Community Relations. As she reminded me last week, “You just never know who is moving or needing to clean out their attic with nice furniture. Thanks for spreading the word!” You can reach Katie at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Higgins House. 100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609, Cell Phone: 508-410-8689, kbilotta@wpi.edu
Announcements

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is providing a loan repayment program (MLRP-2022) managed by the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, Inc. for health care professionals who commit to working full time or part time for two years in an eligible health care organization (up to $25,000 per year for two years). https://massleague.org/Programs/WorkforceDevelopment/MLRP.php Applications are due April 26th. Loan repayment funds are available for a range of health professionals providing primary health care services, please see the Program Guide on the website for a complete list of professions. The work location must be in a Health Professions Shortage Area (HPSA). Hahnemann and Benedict Family Medicine, Family Health Center, EMKennedy Health Center qualify, Fitchburg and Barre do not. You can easily check if your work location qualifies here: https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/shortage-area/by-address Contact Linda.Cragin@umassmed.edu if you have any questions. 

Med Moth at University of Massachusetts Medical School Albert Sherman Center Multi-Purpose Room (Cafeteria)
Wednesday April 27, 2022, 5:30pm
Come share and reflect with us. Adapted from the Moth Storytelling radio show and podcast, Med Moth is a place for anyone in the UMass Medical community to come and share in the practice of reflection. Come listen or share prose or poetry that reflects on a moment that impacted your life and your work. Past talks have been about the speaker's journey into medicine, meaningful patient encounters, or other experiences that have shaped their personal or professional identify in health care, but the topic is up to you. If interested in sharing, please contact us at the emails below. Contact: sean.boyden@umassmed.edu, eve.manghis@umassmed.edu, margaret.ruddy@umassmed.edu or timothy.winn@umassmed.edu
Faculty Presentations/Publications

Hugh Silk, MD, MPH, presented at the National Oral Health Conference in Fort Worth Texas on April 11th, on the topic, 100 Million Mouths Campaign- Creating Primary Care Champions for Equitable Oral Health Access.
Frankly Speaking Podcast

A weekly Podcast series covering newsworthy topics in primary care medicine.

Please join us for an overview: Clinicians need to accurately access the degree of heart failure at the bedside to make appropriate management decisions. However, the common bedside practice of estimating right atrial pressure by measuring jugular venous pressure (JVP) has several accuracy limitations. This session focuses on the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POC-US) to improve the accuracy of JVP measurements. Join us to hear the salient findings from a recent study comparing POC-US measurements to right heart catheterization measurements, and walk away with a clear understanding of how POC-US can quickly and easily improve accuracy. Guest: Alan Ehrlich, MD, FAAFP, presents: "Estimating Jugular Venous Pressure: Point-of-Care Ultrasound Can Help". - Frankly Speaking Ep 272.
Clinical Services Spotlight:
COVID-19 UPDATES

The US and COVID-19
  • The US had more than 450,000 COVID cases between April 7- April 14, likely an underestimate. 
  • Experts warn that the BA.2 variant will increase across the nation. The variant is about 30% more contagious. 
  • New Hampshire cases are increasing after the state vaccination sites closed. 
  • COVID is increasing in New England and New York.
 
COVID-19 and MA
  • MA has had 1,587,646 confirmed COVID cases and 19,059 confirmed deaths.
  • The 7-day average for percent positivity is 3.89%.
  • There are 343 hospitalized patients with COVID; of these 37 are in the ICU and 15 are intubated. 
  • In the last 14 days, the largest number of confirmed cases were in those 20-29 years old. 
  • Testing sites in Worcester are still open. Please check the online information for the site nearest you. Please share this information with your patients.
 
COVID-19 UMMMC
  • The current 7-day positivity rate is 15.1%, up from 9.8% since last week.
  • The 7-day average census of COVID cases are also up at 26 compared to 14 last week. 
  • Sixty-nine percent of patients in-house with COVID are fully vaccinated. 
 
COVID Testing
UMass Testing sites: Stop the Spread
Walk-up free testing and vaccine events
Location:  201 Commercial St., Worcester (Intersection of Commercial St. & Mechanic St.)​​
Week of April 18th
  • Thursday, April 21 - Testing and Vaccines: 10 am - 3 pm
  • ​No appointment required
  • English   Spanish
Week of April 25th
  • Monday, April 25 - Testing and Vaccines: 11 am - 4 pm
  • Thursday, April 28 - Testing and Vaccines: 10 am - 3 pm
  • ​No appointment required
  • English   Spanish
 
Testing In Massachusetts
  • MA will be reducing its testing sites from 450 locations to 11 sites, which will be in the following areas: 
  • Everett
  • Framingham
  • Lawrence (2 locations)
  • Lynn
  • New Bedford
  • Randolph
  • Revere
  • Springfield (2 locations)
  • Worcester
Wellness Resources

The Caring for the Caregiver Program provides resources such as the Caregiver Support Line (508-334-HELP) and The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which offers a variety of services and supports (including virtual peer support and wellness tips. EAP can be accessed at 866-263-3525, or www.LiveandWorkWell.com, [company code UmassMemorial]. More information is available on the Caring for the Caregiver page.

Wellness
You are invited to become a member of the Department Wellness Committee. Key goals for this year include improving the efficiency of use with the Electronic Health Record. Watch your email for future training sessions.
Working on Wellness
Yoga Classes with Dr. Liz Erban

Last class will be March 2nd, and then a brief hiatus/pause, with classes resuming on May 4th, 2022.

Great time to join!
This is a great time to join, new members always welcome. Start your mid week with some relaxing yoga! 

Please join department members for early morning gentle yoga, Wednesday mornings 6:30am via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting ID: 923 9393 3653 Passcode: 764113
Zumba with Dr. Anna Zheng

Thursdays 5:45pm: In-person or ZOOM
Please join department members Thursday evenings at 5:45pm**(30 Anna Street: tall & spacious indoor location) and get moving with Zumba. Please note details and any changes via webpage: http://annazheng.zumba.com/. ZOOM still an option for all classes.
 
Much appreciation to Dr. Anna Zheng for hosting these outstanding classes. New to the class? Please email Dr. Zheng at ZumbawithAnnaZheng@gmail.com to register, complete brief health screen if it's your first class and the ZOOM link.