Career Opportunities in Community Health the Focus of Industry Summit at Hostos

Hostos Community College convened its sixth Industry Summit on Thursday, May 15, focusing on the growing field of community health. The event welcomed faculty, students, and industry professionals to discuss career opportunities, innovative curricula, and notable achievements within community health. The discussions addressed the increasing demand for community health workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for community health workers is projected to grow by 13% from 2023 to 2033, indicating a strong need for trained professionals in public health.
  In her opening remarks, President Daisy Cocco De Filippis underscored the importance of adapting to the ever-changing health needs of communities. She thanked the speakers for sharing their valuable expertise, emphasizing how their insights will help ensure that Hostos' programs remain aligned with industry demands for years to come.
 
Diana Kreymer, the Executive Chief of Staff and Deputy to the President, served as the Mistress of Ceremonies, setting the tone for a "day of meaningful engagement and shared purpose." The event focused on strengthening pipelines and partnerships within the community health sector and welcomed the expertise of industry veterans, such as keynote speaker, Dr. Nicholas Freudenberg. A distinguished professor at the CUNY School of Public Health, Freudenberg delivered an inspiring address emphasizing community health's significant challenges and opportunities over the next decade. In his talk, he outlined the crucial roles that Hostos Community College and CUNY will play in shaping the future of public health, while identifying key players within the industry and the community that can influence progress.
 
While Freudenberg voiced his concerns about the future health of community health students and the broader population in New York City, he remained optimistic about the potential the coming decade holds for advancing community health initiatives. He pointed out that the demand for community health workers in New York is projected to grow significantly within the next ten years, indicating a clear opportunity for growth and impact. "You're at the forefront of training those community health workers," he emphasized, highlighting the necessity of equipping these future health workers with the knowledge, skills, and compensation they need to thrive in their careers. Furthermore, he stressed the importance of initiatives like Hostos' articulation agreement with Lehman College and NextGen 2+2+2 Public Health scholarship partnership with Columbia University in creating pathways for these professionals to advance from associate degree programs to undergraduate and eventually to master's and doctoral levels at CUNY. 
 
In his conclusion, Freudenberg pointed out the importance of forging strong connections with community organizations, recognizing that the activists within these organizations are a powerful force for promoting better health outcomes in the communities they serve.
 
The program continued with an insightful overview of Hostos' dynamic Community Health program, featuring introductions from Dr. Shiang-Kwei Wang, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. Before getting into what students get out of the program, Dr. Jacqueline DiSanto, Professor and Chairperson of the Education Department, explained why they enroll, emphasizing that many students are driven by a strong desire to give back to their communities. They aim to help individuals achieve a better quality of life by providing access to healthcare and essential information.
 
Dr. Asrat Amnie, Coordinator of the Health Education Unit, then presented the key aspects of the program, elaborating its vision, which is centered on diversifying the workforce, championing health advocacy, and establishing sustainable career pipelines. He highlighted the apprenticeship opportunities available to students and the diverse career pathways within the program. Additionally, he previewed the exciting developments on the horizon, including the forthcoming Community Health Worker online certificate program and a new Health Sciences program currently in the planning stages.
 
The summit also featured a panel discussion on Technology Considerations in Community Health, featuring the expertise of Lehman College's faculty, administrators and staff: Dr. Elgloria Harrison, Dean and Professor of Health Equity, Administration, and Technology (HEAT); Christine Calero, Integrated Advisor at CUNY Inclusive Economy Initiative; Justin Simmons, CIE Industry Employment Specialist; Jonah Dill-D'Ascoli, Project Director of SEAMLeSS Grant; Milagros Tejada, Project Administrative Coordinator for the SEAMLeSS Grant; Dr. Elys Vasquez-Iscan, Associate Dean and Professor; and Dr. Collette Brown, Chair of the HEAT Department. The discussion highlighted various uses of technology in community health, ranging from making information more accessible to students and community members to providing translation services and beyond. The panel underscored the importance of empowering community members to utilize technology to manage their healthcare. Acknowledging that many people remain skeptical of new technology, Dr. Vasquez-Iscan emphasized the need for clear communication and an understanding of the reasons behind this distrust, which can stem from past unethical practices. Both Calero and Brown stressed the significance of collaboration. Brown suggested that community health professionals and organizations should return to the communities from which they collected data to share their findings. Calero advocated for including community health workers, community-based organizations, and higher education institutions in the development and ideation of new technology.
 
The power of collaboration was further emphasized in the next panel, which highlighted Hostos' Continuing Education and Workforce Development (CEWD) community health worker pipelines, featuring insight from Dr. Evelyn Fernandez-Ketcham, CEWD Vice President; Dr. Sam Byrd, Director of College Transition and Alternative Credit Programs; Jaunia Clarke, MPH, CHES, CHW Program Manager; and Heather Day, Director of Community and Workforce Initiatives, NYC Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health.
 
Both Fernandez-Ketcham and Byrd provided overviews of the role CEWD plays in preparing Community Health Workers, including the division's credit articulation agreement with the College's Community Health degree program, which provides a pipeline for prospective students to earn nine credits for prior learning while working toward their Community Health Worker Certificate and apply it toward their degree.
 
Clarke then reviewed how the division's Community Health Worker training program, funded by a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW), is helping Hostos pursue its goal of setting "the gold standard for community health workers." In addition to offering apprenticeships, which provide valuable on-the-job training, the program provides upskilling opportunities for students and collaborates with community partners to enhance the curriculum. Guests also heard from Day, who provided an overview of "Bridging the Gap: Challenges and Solutions for a Thriving Behavioral Workforce," a publication published by the Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health.
 
The interactive program also featured questions from the audience and testimonies from Community Health students Alicia James and Nichelle Hemphill, who matriculated by way of CEWD’s Community Health Worker certificate program and have since received additional support through the Ms. MacKenzie Scott Adult and Continuing Education (ACE) Scholarship. They each spoke about how a newspaper ad about the certificate program led them on a path to earning their associate degree in community health, and how they hope to continue their academic journey at Lehman — or Columbia, shared Hemphill.
 
Moreover, the summit featured a special presentation from Dr. Larkin Street McReynolds, Director, Master's Programs in Epidemiology and Assistant Professor, Columbia University, on post-pandemic public health issues, including mental health struggles, healthcare shortages, and significant health inequities. Street McReynolds emphasized that "there will be something else" and highlighted emerging opportunities to support community health. She advocated for a shift toward community-based care systems focusing on person-centered models, where patients actively participate in their care. Additionally, she mentioned the expansion of telemedicine and virtual consultations. Echoing the sentiments of her fellow presenters from Lehman, she stressed the importance of addressing the digital divide to ensure equitable access to telehealth services. Street McReynolds also highlighted the value of involving communities in participatory research to address local health needs authentically.
 
To conclude, Dr. Babette Audant, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, brought the summit to a close with a powerful reminder that Hostos was founded in response to the community's fight against inequities and "while we pride ourselves on the strength of our clinical programs… community really is at the core of our mission."