If the COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test on the New York and the nation’s healthcare and public health infrastructure, the past year would reveal both strengths (our frontline workforce) and deep-rooted racialized disparities and inequities across the landscape of issues that support individuals’ health and safety.
While the major hospital systems around New York City ramped-up surge capacity in record time and Medicaid expanded enrollment, we witnessed administrative, logistical, and financial barriers that disproportionately affected communities of color and left those who have been most marginalized at extreme risk for both health and financial ruin. Communities of color faced increased exposure, lack of insurance, and more broadly, a history of inadequate healthcare investment pre-pandemic. Beyond the medical impact, the pandemic has shaken the public health infrastructure and social determinants of health, such as housing, economic security, and education. From medical debt and the eviction crisis to child poverty and learning loss, the results will have implications for generations to come.
Government, nonprofits, and philanthropy are committed to strengthening the system of care, a task that will surely require a multi-sector approach bolstered by research, programmatic and policy interventions.
Please join us for a State of Health Town Hall, our first mixed meeting of legislative staff and workers in the philanthropic space, to tease out these interconnected issues and collectively chart a healthier and more equitable path for New York moving forward. You will hear from an expert panel of philanthropic leaders who understand the current healthcare infrastructure on the ground and are leading the research and policy reform required to reimagine future care.
Explore
- Ways in which the New York healthcare system was successful in its COVID-19 response as well as what systemic gaps were revealed.
- How racial disparities and inequities in healthcare access and quality pre-pandemic were exacerbated by COVID-19.
- What is needed to strengthen health systems (from a direct service and policy perspective) to ensure equity.
- How vaccination efforts are incorporating learnings from the past year.
- Opportunities for collaboration around health systems strengthening between philanthropy, the nonprofit sector, and government.
- The long-lasting and racially disparate repercussions from COVID-19 on children under age 18 in New York State.
- How New York and other states are preparing to address the impact of temporary Medicaid policy changes post-COVID-19.
- The impact of the rising debt from COVID-19 medical expenses.
Speakers
- David Blumenthal, President, The Commonwealth Fund
- David Sandman, President & CEO, New York State Health Foundation
- Anthony Shih, President, United Hospital Fund
- Irfan Hasan (Moderator), Deputy Vice President for Grants, The New York Community Trust
Recording
Designed for
All interested funders. What to expect: Moderated Conversation followed by Q&A.
Please email register@philanthropynewyork.org with any questions.