The part of the document's content:
...... the authors of this page or responsible for its content. The Massachusetts Public Health Association Public Health Budget Advocacy Over three years, from FY01 to FY04, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) budget was cut by $158 million, more than 1/3 of its core operating budget. Last January, Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney proposed cutting DPH by another $31 million. He wanted to eliminate funding for school health services, community health centers, and prostate cancer prevention. He also wanted to dramatically reduce funding for AIDS prevention and treatment, substance abuse services, and teen pregnancy prevention. Romneys draft budget even called for cutting state immunization programs by over 1/2, which could have resulted in the elimination of all publicly funded adult vaccines, including flu shots for seniors. MPHA responded with the most intense advocacy campaign in our history. We engaged our members and coalition partners in every stage of the budget process, providing detailed budget analyses, legislative updates, and action alerts to influence budget making by the House, Senate, conference committee, and governor. We organized State House rallies and letter and phone call campaigns. We provided leadership to three major coalitions, and we participated in others. We engaged in aggressive and effective media advocacy that resulted in significantly more coverage of public health issues and increased visibility for MPHA. With new, full time MPHA community organizers in western, central, and northeastern Massachusetts, we were able to organize district meetings with legislators all across the state. We developed an advocacy manual and provided trainings for public health providers and community health workers. The public health community started to act as an organized, statewide force. It was just a start, and it wasnt sufficient to fully reverse the damage of the past three years, but when the dust had settled, the FY05 DPH budget included $35 million more than in FY04, a reversal of over $65 million from the governors proposal. MPHA played a leadership role in winning increased or restored funding for adult immunizations, school health services, substance abuse services, and 48 full time DPH program positions that had been slated for elimination. We played significant support roles in winning increased funding for family planning and rape crisis services, tobacco control programs, teen pregnancy prevention, prostate cancer prevention, AIDS services, and environmental health programs. Below you will find a summary of MPHA's achievements from the past year. We thank our members, partners, funders, elected officials and others for your outstanding support! Annual Report, October 2003-September 2004 1 1 The Massachusetts Public Health Association 434 Jamaicaway Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 www.mphaweb.org (617) 524-6696 fax (617) 524-5225 The Massachusetts Public Health Association Working for public health means working for social justice 2 0 0 4 A n n u a l
R e p o r t Issue Campaigns & Public Health Legislation Childhood Healthy Weight Campaign In late 2002, MPHA received major funding for a project linking grassroots organizing with s c h o o l - b a s e d nutrition education in three regions of Massachusetts in partnership with FoodPlay, a western Massachusetts-based childrens theatre group. Over the past year, over 21,000 children in more than 70 school districts have participated in the program, and our regional organizers have started to build committees in key districts to involve parents and school personnel in action for both local and statewide policy change. MPHAs education director is one of the states leading advocates on childhood obesity prevention. She helped to draft new nutrition standards that were recently adopted by the Boston School Committee in a nationally significant move to ban soda and improve food in all Boston public schools. The regulations can provide a blueprint for other school districts, and we believe that a series of such victories will help build momentum for winning statewide school nutrition legislation. As part of the implementation of MPHAs strategic plan, we have started to revive several of the professional sections into which our membership is organized. Chairs of the child and adolescent health, food and nutrition, and health promotion and prevention sections are cooperating to organize a series of carnival-like nutrition forums beginning this fall that will be integrated with the FoodPlay project organizing and related policy work. Environmental Health MPHA increased its participation and leadership in the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow (AHT), a broad- based coalition working to promote safe alternatives to toxics found in the home and workplace. Since last fall, MPHA has co-chaired AHTs committee to develop an executive order which would require DPH and other state agencies to use all existing legal authority to protect the public from products containing chemicals known to cause cancers, neurological, reproductive, or endocrine disorders. The public campaign for the executive order will be launched this fall. MPHA is also organizing its 2004 annual meeting around the theme of environmental health. Our speakers will be Shelley Hearne, executive director of the Trust for Americas Health, and Virginia Caine, President of the American Public Health Association. Health Care Access MPHAs mission includes promoting health care as a human right. Over the past year, we actively supported a campaign to pass a state constitutional amendment g u a r a n t e e i n g health care for all. The question was endorsed in a r e c e n t constitutional c o n v e n t i o n and will advance in the political process for further action next year. We also supported single payer health care reform, prescription fair pricing legislation, and health care access for immigrants, and we: Organized a major State House rally in cooperation with coalition partners last April, where 300 people turned out despite rain to link health care and public health and to demand strong funding for both. 2 continued on pg. 5 3 3 2 2 3 MPHA's Statewide Leadership MPHA Board of Directors, 2003-2004 Executive Committee Harold Cox, MSSW - President
Judith Kurland - Vice President
Bettye Anderson Fredric, BSN, MSN - Vice President,
Western Mass
Ali Noorani, MPH - Secretary
Ed Marakovitz, MSW - Treasurer
Chris Hager, JD, MPH - Past President Section Chairs & Delegates Myron Allukian, DDS, MPH - Oral Health
Alba Cruz, PhD, MPH - Minority Health
Alfred DeMaria, Jr., MD - Epidemiology & Lab Sciences
Marcie Freeman, MEd - Gerontology
Donna Lazorik, RN, MS - Public Health Nursing
Arthur Mazer, MPH - Mass. Human Services Coalition
Vivien Morris, MPH, MS, RD - Food & Nutrition
Jacqueline Nolan, MPH - Women's Health
Dorthy Swope - Health Promotion & Prevention
Karen van Unen, MBA, MEd - Child & Adolescent Health
Deborah Klein Walker, EdD - APHA & Health Planning
& Policy Members at Large Thomas Conklin, MD, FAPA, CCHP
Ray Considine, MSW
Catherine DeLorey, DrPh
Frank Singleton, MSPH, MPA
Judith Gorbach, EdM, MPH
Wendy Mariner, JD, MPH Former Members, 2003-2004 Anthony Schlaff, MD, MPH
Carlos Joo, DMD
Mindy Luber, JD
Barbara Ferrer, PhD MPHA Staff, 2003-2004 Geoffrey W. Wilkinson, Executive Director
Roberta Friedman, Director of Education
Sarah Almer, Deputy Director of Advocacy & Policy
Libby Manly, Membership & Development Coordinator
Guilmo Barrio,Community Organizer, Merrimack Valley
A.J. Juarez,Community Organizer, Western Mass
Lisa Renee Siciliano,Community Organizer, Central Mass
Stan Holt, Organizing Consultant
Wanda Santiago, Business Manager
Fred Rosenfeld, Administrative Assistant MPHA Student Interns Amanda Behrens, Communications Intern
Dana Bowie, Correctional Health Intern
Catherine DeFuria, Child Health Intern
Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Advocacy & Special Events Intern
Rhiannon Morton, Advocacy Intern
Michael Wake, Hep C Coalition & Advocacy Intern Former Staff & Interns Victoria Brower, Advocacy Intern
Andrea Cooper, Advocacy Intern
Amy Desrosiers, Research Intern
Amy Eiferman, Hep C Coalition and Advocacy Intern
Lise Hildebrandt, Child Health Intern
Samatha Panati, Child Health Intern
Maddie Ribble, Advocacy Intern
Amanda Rieger, Development Intern
Tobi Quinto, Director of Advocacy & Policy
Ryan Tappin, Research & Communications Intern
Chris Wilson, Research & Advocacy Intern MPHA Offices Boston: 434 Jamaicaway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 524-6696 fax: (617) 524-5225 mpha@mphaweb.org Lowell: 341 Pine Street, Lowell, MA 01851
(978) 328-2705 guilmob@hotmail.com Springfield: 95 State Street, Springfield, MA 01103
(413) 750-2060 ellis6065@charter.net Worcester: 4 Lancaster Terrace, Worcester, MA 01609
(508) 791-5893 Lrsiciliano@aol.com 4 4 4 MPHA's Funders Organizational Members continued.. Partners for a Healthier Community
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Saugus Board of Health
Span, Inc.
Tobacco Free Mass
WestMass Elder Care
Wyeth-Ayerst Labs Institutional and Corporate Donors Action for Boston Community Development
American Cancer Society
Beacon Capital Partners
Boston University School of Dental Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Brigham & Women's Hospital
Byte Machines and Engineering
Cambridge Cares About AIDS
Central Boston Elder Services
Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Erna Yaffe Foundation
Fleet Bank
Friends of Brookline Public Health
GlaxoSmithKline
Gravestar, Inc.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aged
Highland Valley Elder Services
John Hancock Financial Services
Lyme Properties
The Karp Family Foundation
Massachusetts General Hospital
MassPro
NEU Institute on Urban Health Research
Rasky/Baerlein Group, Inc
Partners Health Care
Policy Studies, Inc.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers
RF Walsh & Company
Rosenfeld & Rafik
Seaport
Shawmut Design & Construction Company
Suffolk Construction
Tishman Speyer Properties
Tufts Health Plan
Tufts - New England Medical Center
Whittier Street Health Center
William A. Berry & Son
Winn Development Company and Cassin Group Grant and Contract Support Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation
Boston Foundation
Common Stream Foundation
Estate of John T. OConnor
Ellis & Rapacki, LLP
Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust
Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Roache Pharmaceuticals
Partners Health Care
Tufts University School of Medicine MPHA Partners in Public Health Alexander Aronson Finning
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Boston Public Health Commission
Boston University School of Public Health
Cambridge Health Alliance
Harvard School of Public Health
Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts
Massachusetts Medical Society
Partners Health Care
Tufts University School of Medicine, Graduate Programs in Public Health MPHA Organizational Members Boxborough Board of Health
Central MA Center for Healthy Communities
Central MA Area Health Education Center
Childrens Hospital Boston
Everett Health Department
Friends of Brookline Public Health
Grafton Board of Health
Health Care of Southeastern Mass, Inc
Health Law Advocates
Highland Valley Elder Services
Justice Resource Institute
Massachusetts Association of Community Health
Massachusetts Coalition of Community Hospitals
Massachusetts Health Data Consortium
Massachusetts Community Health Worker Network
Massachusetts Dental Hygienists Association
Massachusetts Health Council, Inc.
Massachusetts Nurses Association 5 5 Continued a close collaboration with the Massachusetts Community Health Workers Network (MACHW), a statewide peer support organization involving front line health workers. MPHA and MACHW will be presenting a scientific session on this partnership at the 2004 APHA annual meeting in Washington, DC. Participated in planning and helped turn out dozens of public health practitioners for a June 19 Bridge Walk in Boston, co-sponsored by Jobs with Justice and SEIU as part of a national day of action to promote health care for all. Health Disparities MPHA worked under contract with Tufts Medical School to involve public health professionals in the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP), which seeks to inspire high school students of color to enter the h e a l t h p r o f e s s i o n s . Over twenty MPHA members agreed to have students shadow them at work to get hands-on experience with public health, and other members spoke to groups of HCOP students. MPHA also works to reduce health disparities based on race, ethnicity, gender, class and sexual orientation through our campaigns to improve correctional health, expand hepatitis C services, prevent childhood obesity, promote environmental health, support community health workers, and increase state funding for public health programs that benefit vulnerable populations. Correctional Health A year ago, MPHA finished national dissemination of a report documenting a public health model of improving health care for inmates pioneered at the 5 Hampden County Correctional Center that was recognized with a national Ford Foundation award. Last October, we released another major report on correctional health care that received front page coverage in the Boston Globe and earned MPHA an invitation to testify before a gubernatorial commission developing recommendations to improve the Massachusetts correctional system. We helped draft legislation to extend Medicaid coverage to inmates immediately upon their release from incarceration and the bill was approved by the legislatures health care committee. Strengthening the Public Health Infrastructure Over the past six months, MPHA has developed a half hour video program, Safe and Healthy: How Public Health Protects Us, that will begin airing soon on cable access TV stations across the state. Funded through the Department of Public Health, the video describes a variety of essential local public health services. It was shot on location in communities from the Berkshires to eastern Massachusetts. The project is designed to improve understanding of and support for public health and to increase awareness about emergency preparedness planning. MPHA provides staffing support for the Coalition for Local Public Health (CLPH), which includes MPHA and associations representing the states health boards, health officers, environmental health officials, and public health nurses. The CLPH has significantly influenced management of the states federally funded emergency preparedness efforts, including development of a new regional structure for coordinating planning and distribution of resources. The CLPH is also working with state officials to help develop a new education and training institute to support and strengthen the local public health workforce. Local Community Organizing In line with our strategic plan, MPHA is developing community organizing as a core capacity. With full-time community organizers in Lowell, Springfield and Worcester, MPHA has accomplished the following over the past year: Issue Campaigns &
Public Health Legislation continued... The Massachusetts Public Health Association 434 Jamaicaway Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 www.mphaweb.org (617) 524-6696 fax (617) 524-5225 Organized district-based meetings with public officials across the state to win support for increased public health funding. Won an important advocacy victory when the Lawrence City Council passed a resolution to support school health services. 6 6 Organizational Development MPHA has been driven by a clear sense of mission about the importance of integrating community-based organizing with professional advocacy and education. We have maintained and expanded MPHAs role as a coalition leader and the states umbrella group for public health. We have also devoted considerable effort to improving communications with our membership, the press, coalition partners, and advocacy targets. This focus on external results and relationships has been integrated with and made possible by intensive organizational development. Here is a summary of accomplishments related to the internal workings of MPHA over the past year: We finished work on MPHAs formal strategic plan last fall after a final draft was presented to the membership at our 2003 annual meeting. Individual dues paying membership in MPHA increased by 38 percent over the year. Launched community exercise clubs with families in western and northeastern Massachusetts. Organized MPHA's inaugural Food & Fitness Carnival in central Massachusetts. The Carnival was attended by 130 children and parents who learned about healthy eating and excercise habits through interactive games and workshops. We hired new, full time organizers for western and northeastern Massachusetts and opened two new regional offices to compliment the office we opened last year in central Massachusetts. We expanded our central offices last September, enabling us to host graduate and undergraduate interns. We operated through most of the year with up to seven interns at a time assisting with various advocacy, education, and research projects. We inaugurated a bi-monthly electronic newsletter in March and began extensive improvements to MPHAs website, www.mphaweb.org, and other communications. Our annual meeting last fall featured a keynote by Dr. Georges Benjamin, APHA Executive Director, and drew a 30 percent increase in attendance over the previous year. Over 350 people attended our second annual fundraiser this spring, where we raised a net of $110,000, compared to $40,000 in 2003. Local Community Organizing continued... Working for public health means working for social justice