Capturing Black Health & Wellness for longer lives

Governor Josh Shapiro's 2024-25 budget proposal includes $5.2 million for Pennsylvania's 52 Area Agencies on Aging to offer and expand innovative housing initiatives. 

Harrisburg, PA –The Pennsylvania Department of Aging today announced it has launched its first-ever marketing campaign to promote its Domiciliary Care housing program, also known as Dom Care, to Pennsylvanians who have some extra room in their home and wouldn't mind some extra company.  

Dom Care providers open their homes to offer a family-like living environment, daily support and supervision to adults aged 18 and older who are unable to live independently in their community, yet do not require the level of care provided by a long-term care facility. Dom Care providers receive monthly compensation and many other rewards. When surveyed on why they participate in the program, Dom Care providers have reported they enjoy helping and giving back to others in the community, welcoming residents and watching them succeed, providing a secure home to another in need, and companionship. 

The “Open Your Door" campaign, which features television and online ads including Facebook, is now running and is designed to reach and appeal to multiple age groups.

“The Dom Care program offers a person the opportunity to live in a safe, caring home with a  host provider who has the room, capability, compassion, and understanding to supply the basic necessities so the residents can live and thrive in their communities in a home setting," said Secretary of Aging Jason Kavulich. “The Department is truly grateful for the homeowners who have been serving as Dom Care providers over the years. Unfortunately, we're seeing many of them age out of the program and in need of help themselves. We encourage everyone in the counties offering the Dom Care program to consider hosting a community member who needs some extra support and a place to call home." 

The Dom Care program is currently available in 31 counties: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Centre, Columbia, Crawford, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Greene, Huntingdon, Jefferson, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Luzerne, McKean, Mifflin, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Snyder, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland, Wyoming, and York.

Dom Care providers must be aged 21 and older and receive certification by the local Area Agency on Aging (AAA) to provide supportive services in their home, to no more than three eligible individuals. Providers receive a monthly stipend for sharing their home and providing services to Dom Care residents.

How does Dom Care work? The local AAA works with Dom Care providers and Dom Care residents to match them based on needs, preferences, and interests. A trial visit is set up prior to the resident moving into the Dom Care home to ensure the provider and resident are a compatible match. Once a resident moves into the home, they receive supervision, a bedroom with basic furnishings, three nutritious meals a day, assistance with personal care, laundry, medications, and transportation to non-emergency medical appointments. The AAA supplies ongoing care management to the residents and support to the provider.

Residents pay their Dom Care provider a monthly rate, established by the Department of Aging. Individuals receiving Social Security Income (SSI) are eligible to receive a state supplement which covers the monthly payment to their provider and provides the individual with a monthly personal needs allowance.

There are currently 286 Dom Care providers serving 538 residents in Pennsylvania.

In addition to the marketing campaign to promote Dom Care, PDA has requested $5.2 million in Governor Josh Shapiro's proposed 2024-25 budget to strengthen the 52 AAAs' capacity to offer and expand innovative and unique housing opportunities, including Dom Care. 

Learn More about the Program

To address disparities in health care, co-chairs of the Pennsylvania Black Maternal Health Caucus Reps. Morgan Cephas, D-Phila.; Gina H. Curry, D-Delaware; and La’Tasha D. Mayes, D-Allegheny, and caucus members introduced the Momnibus legislative package, which outlines a group of bills to decrease maternal morbidity and mortality in Pennsylvania.

The bills would:

• Require health-related boards within the Department of State to complete implicit bias training as part of continuing education requirements.
• Extend Medicaid coverage to doula services, as well as establish the Doula Advisory Board to set standards and requirements for doulas.
• Require health insurance to cover doula services.
• Require health insurance to cover blood pressure monitors for pregnant and postpartum enrollees.
• Expand Medicaid coverage of blood pressure monitors for pregnant and postpartum enrollees.
• Designate maternal health deserts to target investments in maternal health care services.
• Enhance access to mental health services for pregnant or postpartum patients.
• Establish a program to distribute essential resources to new mothers.

“Our Momnibus package is the culmination of years of work to address the critical issues surrounding maternal health and well-being,” Cephas said. “These core areas of increasing access to care, eliminating maternal health deserts, and addressing social determinants of health, guide our focus in this comprehensive platform. This caucus has done an amazing job of developing a multi-pronged approach to achieve health and maternal care equity for birthing people across the state no matter where they live.”

Curry said: “When my co-chairs Reps. Cephas, Mayes, and I created the PA Black Maternal Health Caucus back in October 2023, we knew we had no time to wait before we sprinted into action. In my district and all across the commonwealth, women have become victims of health care system closures. These closures have created an alarmingly increasing problem of maternal health deserts. Nineteen counties in Pennsylvania have hospitals that don’t provide obstetric services and don’t have accredited freestanding birth centers. Thirty-one counties don’t have a Newborn Intensive Care Unit. This is a horrifying reality and one that we want to change now. 

“The Momnibus legislation does many things, but most importantly, it will bring forth into motion the beginning stages of good legislation that will prevent Black mommas and birthing folks and all mommas throughout the commonwealth from dying and create a Pennsylvania where the birthing journey will bring joy and healthy live birthing experiences, leading to happier and healthier children, mothers, families and communities for generations to come. When we actively address the devastation that has created fear and destroyed hope around Black maternal health, we are addressing the restoration of hope in the birthing experiences that are yet to come.”

Mayes said: “Prior to the birth of my daughter Charlotte, up until my partner Heather and I were admitted to the hospital, I worried about my partner’s health, especially as Black patients are at the highest risk for maternal mortality and morbidity and we were grateful to welcome our child into the world. This underlying fear that I felt is rooted in dangerous medical assumptions about Black bodies and implicit biases that put patients at risk, especially pregnant Black women. We must address these race-based and gender-based disparities to ensure health care is equitable for all moms, birthing people and all Pennsylvanians. Thanks to my co-chairs and members of the PBMHC, the Pennsylvania Momnibus package represents the groundbreaking opportunity to pass legislation that boldly addresses the maternal health care crisis in our commonwealth, reduces maternal morbidity and mortality, and ensures pregnant and postpartum patients have access to critical resources.”

The co-chairs, as well as Reps. Lisa Borowski, D-Delaware, Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Phila., and Mandy Steele, D-Allegheny, modeled Pennsylvania’s Momnibus legislation after federal bills introduced by U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey.

A livestream of the news conference is available here.

Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh today visited Pittsburgh Mercy, one of the region’s largest social services nonprofit organizations, alongside Representative Dan Frankel to tour Second Avenue Commons, a year-round, low-barrier shelter and engagement center, Bethlehem Haven’s medical respite, and discussed how health care has improved for unhoused individuals covered by Medicaid. This visit included spending time with health care providers and their unhoused patients during street medicine rounds. DHS staff and legislators observed first-hand the greater support for care provided to unhoused people since the Shapiro Administration took action to allow street medicine providers to be reimbursed through Medicaid for care given outside of a traditional clinical setting.  

Before the Administration’s announcement, health care providers could only be reimbursed for services delivered in a health care facility – like a doctor’s office – even if those same services were delivered in a shelter or outside. 

“Spending time with street medicine providers was a great opportunity to witness on-the-ground improvements for our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, from wound care to counseling and essential preventative health services that are now more accessible because of state and federal changes to Medicaid that recognize the value of this practice,” said Secretary Arkoosh. “People experiencing homelessness can have complex needs and face many barriers to health care, and by having compassionate health care providers available to them where they are is vital. This work puts more people on a path to good health and improved quality of life.”  

Street medicine allows physical and behavioral health services providers to address the unique needs and circumstances of people experiencing homelessness by delivering care and services directly to them in their own lived environment. These visits provide a direct intervention with a high potential impact on health and wellbeing that will also divert people from costly visits to frequently overwhelmed emergency rooms. Services include but are not limited to primary care, vaccine administration, wound care, preventive services, counseling, medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder, and diagnostic services, rapid COVID-19 and flu testing, and more. 

"This is Mr. Rogers' neighborhood; we take care of each other," said Rep. Frankel, Majority Chairman of the House Health Committee. "The practice of street medicine is changing how we provide care to the most vulnerable among us. This collaboration will pave the way for a more compassionate and equitable healthcare system in our Commonwealth, and I am proud to have played a part in it."  

“Pittsburgh Mercy is grateful to the Shapiro Administration, Sec. Arkoosh, Rep. Frankel, and Rep. Abney for the important investments they are making in innovative health care delivery models that proactively address the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness,” stated Dr. Jack Todd Wahrenberger, chief medical officer of Pittsburgh Mercy. “Their engagement with persons we serve while accompanying our experienced street medicine providers on rounds to homeless encampments, visiting our year-round low-barrier emergency shelter and engagement center at Second Avenue Commons, and our medical respite at Bethlehem Haven speaks to the value and dignity of meeting people where they are at whichever point they present in our continuum of care. We hope today’s visit helps to inform public health policy and expand access to innovative health care delivery models that address the social determinants of health and lead to improved health outcomes for all Pennsylvanians, including the most vulnerable.” 

Pittsburgh Mercy, which manages Operation Safety Net®, an award-winning medical and social service outreach program for people who are experiencing homelessness in Allegheny County, is one of the largest community health and social service nonprofit providers and employers in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Mercy serves more than 18,000 people annually in 60+ locations and is the only Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic and also the largest Integrated Community Wellness Center in Western Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh Mercy is a member of Trinity Health, serving in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy. Their mission is to be a compassionate and transforming, healing presence within communities.     

Investments in street medicine provide life-saving health care while also building trust within one of Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable populations. In July 2023, Pennsylvania announced a change to Medicaid that now allows certain enrolled medical providers to meet with unhoused patients covered through Medicaid and provide care outside of a clinical setting – a practice known as street medicine. The change became effective in October 2023. People experiencing homelessness in the United States die, on average, three decades earlier than their peers with housing, most commonly due to preventable and treatable chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and others.  By allowing providers to bill for services rendered during visits with people experiencing homelessness, DHS aims to increase access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries and improve health outcomes. 

Additional resources for individuals experiencing homelessness available through DHS can be found through the Homeless Assistance Program, and more information about other assistance programs administered by DHS is available at dhs.pa.gov.  

To learn more about Pittsburgh Mercy and Pittsburgh Mercy’s Operation Safety Net, please visit www.pittsburghmercy.orgOpens .

Pittsburgh high school football players from various schools got a chance to meet and participate in a new PSA for the American Heart Association featuring Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. 

Hamlin, serves as the national ambassador to the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers movement, encouraging all fans to learn CPR, as a lifesaving skill.

Isaiah Beckham, a senior at Shady Side Academy was excited to meet Hamlin and to be selected to work with him on this national PSA. Beckham says that he is inspired and encouraged to learn CPR especially as a football player on the team because of Hamlin's involvement. “As a football player for Shady Side Academy I am more aware of the importance of learning CPR because of Damar Hamlin. It’s really cool to have him as a spokesperson on this very important issue. As a star football player, who has worked really hard on getting into the NFL, Hamlin is someone teens like myself look up to and respect, he played football at Pitt and he is from Mckees Rock, PA, not far from us. Working with him on this PSA opened my eyes and heart to how young people need to learn CPR, it literately can save lives. It is a blessing that Damar survived and continues to give back to the community by utilizing his platform to raise awareness about learning CPR."
As professional football returns to stadiums across the country, Damar Hamlin is speaking out to encourage fans everywhere to be ready in a cardiac emergency. Hamlin, professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) and national ambassador for the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers™movement which launched earlier this year, is featured in the first of new series of public service announcements. Following the Buffalo Bills safety’s cardiac arrest during Monday Night Football on Jan. 2nd, his commitment to adding lifesavers to the chain of survival where fans live, work and play is the spark that ignited the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers™.

In the new public service announcement (PSA) released September 6th, Hamlin speaks to the simple mission of the Nation of Lifesavers - to educate and prepare teens and adults to be confident to save a life in a cardiac emergency.

“You never know when it’s going to be your opportunity to step in and save a life. CPR and AEDs – are why I’m still here today,” said Hamlin, cardiac arrest survivor and founder of the Chasing M’s Foundation. “Giving someone the skills and power to save a life is a superpower if you ask me.”

The American Heart Association is the worldwide leader in resuscitation science, education and training, and publishes the official guidelines for CPR. With nearly 3 out of 4 cardiac arrests outside of the hospital occurring in homes, knowing how to perform CPR is critically important. The recently launched Nation of Lifesavers effort works to improve the survival rate for the more than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year. In the event of a cardiac arrest, immediate action is needed to save the person’s life. Less than half of all people who experience cardiac arrest receive CPR before emergency personnel arrive. CPR, especially if performed immediately, could double or triple a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival, according to the American Heart Association.

“When the world saw Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest event on Monday Night Football, what they also saw were those very first links in the chain of survival working. Everything happened like it should in a cardiac arrest emergency. This includes, early recognition, calling 911 with responders immediately on the scene, administering high-quality CPR, and having access to, and using an Automated External Defibrillator,” said Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association. “Knowing how to respond in a cardiac emergency when seconds matter is literally the difference between life and death. We need to have everyone ready to call 911 if they see a teen or adult suddenly collapse, and to push hard and fast in the center of the chest until more advanced help arrives.”

The Association is committed to turning a nation of bystanders into lifesavers. The new multi-year initiative will ensure teens and adults can learn about CPR and AED use, share that knowledge with friends and family and engage employers, policymakers, philanthropists and others to create support for a nation of lifesavers. The long-term goal: to ensure that in the face of a cardiac emergency, everyone, everywhere is prepared and empowered to perform CPR and become a vital link in the chain of survival.

Since January, the American Heart Association has worked alongside the NFL at Super Bowl LVII and the NFL Draft as well as many NFL clubs to educate on Hands-Only CPR and train in Heartsaver® CPR AED (automated external defibrillator) course, which provides the highest quality evidence-based training in the lifesaving skills of CPR. The Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Seattle Seahawks have since hosted American Heart Association training and education opportunities for staff or their communities.

As the first sponsor of the Nation of Lifesavers, the Buffalo Bills made a five-year commitment to advance education and awareness, train at community empowerment events, and distribute CPR resources to under resourced communities.  

Only 12 days after the American Heart Association hosted a Hands-Only CPR education session with the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, assisted in the save of a three-year-old boy, the first CPR save directly tied back to this work.

Creating a Nation of Lifesavers includes the Association’s efforts to drive policy change at both the federal and state levels. The Association has endorsed the federal Access to AEDs Act, which would create a grant program for K-12 schools to provide CPR and AED training; purchase AEDs; and create cardiac emergency response plans that establish specific steps to reduce death from cardiac arrest in school settings.

In addition, the Association is a founding member along with the NFL and other major sports leagues of the Smart Heart Sports Coalition which is advocating for states to adopt evidence-based public policies that will prevent fatal outcomes from sudden cardiac arrest among high school students.

Hands-Only CPR is chest compression-only CPR. Following a cardiac arrest of a teen or an adult, compression-only CPR can be equally effective as traditional CPR in the first few minutes of emergency response. If a teen or adult suddenly collapses, witnesses should immediately call emergency services and begin chest compressions at a rate of 100-120 beats per minute and a depth of approximately two inches. The Association encourages everyone, regardless of where they live, to take 90 seconds to learn how to save a life now at www.heart.org/nation.

Link to PSA: https://youtu.be/jCdCfj0euuU

photos provided by American Heart Association

In response to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council’s recent report on severe maternal morbidity in Pennsylvania, state Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes, D-Allegheny, said she is continuing her work to address severe maternal morbidity and Black maternal health in Pennsylvania.

PHC4’s report found from 2016 to 2022 the highest severe maternal morbidity rates were for Black, non-Hispanic patients, patients 40 to 55 years old, patients with Medicaid as their primary health insurance and patients from ZIP codes with poverty rates higher than 25%.

“Addressing severe maternal morbidity also addresses issues for Black maternal health as severe maternal morbidity rates increased by 51% for Black, non-Hispanic patients in Pennsylvania,” Mayes said. “As Black women are 3.5 times more likely to die during pregnancy-related complications and 22% of Black women report discrimination in health care, we must work to address severe maternal morbidity and more to ensure health care is equitable for all Pennsylvanians.”

According to the report, acute renal failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation contributed to more than 50% of SMM. Pennsylvania residents in Pike County, Lehigh County, Carbon County, Monroe County and Philadelphia reported the highest rates of SMM per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations. Allegheny County reported 101.3 cases of SMM per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations.

In July, Gov. Josh Josh Shapiro signed S.B. 262, sponsored by state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks, into law as Act 5 of 2023, requiring the Department of Health to report maternal morbidity data using hospital discharge data from the PHC4, Mayes noted.

“With this law, and the report from PHC4, we may begin to combat maternal morbidity, which disproportionately affects Black pregnant people,” Mayes said. “As state representative, I will work to address severe maternal morbidity, Black maternal health and reproductive health, rights and justice in Pennsylvania.” 

Researchers from Pitt’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences are helping address racial disparities in mental health care by training congregants of Black churches in Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood and Wilkinsburg Borough in counseling skills, creating new entry points for residents to access services.

“Because I’m on the ground and in conversation with residents, what became evident to me is that mental health care is lacking in the Homewood area,” said Channing Moreland, former director of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Wellness Pavilion at Pitt’s Community Engagement Center in Homewood, adding, “this is a discussion that people of color historically haven’t talked about.”

In 2021, with funding from the Pitt Innovation Challenge, Moreland and Department of Counseling and Behavioral Health faculty members Laura Dietz and Quiana Golphin created TRIBUTE: Training Religious Leaders In Bereavement Counseling to Upskill Treatment Experiences.

The premise of TRIBUTE is simple: Relying on church leaders in Black communities will reduce the stigma associated with accessing treatment and normalize conversations about mental health.

When developing TRIBUTE, Moreland, Golphin and Dietz tapped community stakeholders to help shape the training. The community input made clear that partnering with neighborhood clergy would be crucial in reaching those in need.

“One thing about the Black church is that we are agents of social change because of our experience with injustice. This is not something we say — it is something we do because of lived experience,” said Jonathon Counts, a licensed clinical social worker and Homewood AME Zion Church pastor who partners with the TRIBUTE team.

“There is a long-standing historical tradition for Black churches to serve as support, safe places and resources for communities of color,” Counts added. “Clergy within Black churches are trusted pillars for the community and first responders to crisis, tragedies and loss in the neighborhoods they serve.”

The program’s focus on mourning speaks to the role systemic racism plays in Black people’s lives and its connection to both historical and ongoing trauma, including gun violence and the challenges brought by the pandemic, said Moreland

“Communities of color, including Homewood, have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic and have experienced rates of death twice those seen in white communities,” she said.

TRIBUTE also addresses the significant shortage of mental health clinicians of color, said Dietz.

“Often, people of color want to receive mental health treatment from trained individuals rooted in their communities with shared experiences, but there’s a shortage of clinicians of color in the field. TRIBUTE increases the number of people available to deliver culturally responsive counseling and increases access to mental health services,” she said.

The keystone of TRIBUTE’s training protocol is interpersonal counseling, a brief, evidence-based talking therapy. The intervention, used by practitioners since the ’70s, has been an effective model for helping individuals process grief and depression that community health workers have delivered in underresourced countries all over the world.

Graduates of the training, called Emotional Support Advocates, will implement the program in their congregations under the supervision of licensed mental health providers in the TRIBUTE leadership team.

After individuals seeking care from Emotional Support Advocates complete four counseling sessions, they have the option to continue with a bereavement support group or receive assistance in accessing additional mental health services at Primary Health Care Services, a federally qualified health center directed by Khavah Murray, who is also part of the TRIBUTE leadership team.

Moreland noted that the program aims to help people live with grief rather than get over it.

“We train our religious leaders how to help someone drill down into their experience of grief and to help them be able to get support and be able to move,” said Moreland.

“We're helping them to live with their grief and to carry it more effectively so that they can begin to live again.”

— Nichole Faina, photography by Mike Drazdzinski

Pictured: From left, the TRIBUTE team is led by: Assistant Professor Quiana Golphin, Channing Moreland, Associate Professor Laura Dietz and Primary Care Services Director Khavah Murray.

Amani D. Echols earned her MPH within the University of Michigan’s Department of Health Management and Policy. Currently, Amani is a Behavioral Health Policy Fellow at the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs (AMCHP). Outside of work, Amani is a trained pregnancy loss and abortion doula who volunteers her time as a case manager at the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF). The DC Abortion fund makes grants to pregnant people in DC, Maryland, and Virginia and those traveling to these jurisdictions who cannot afford the total cost of an abortion. The content in this article is the opinions of Amani and is not associated with AMCHP or DCAF.

JLD: Amani, given the possibility of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, what do you anticipate being the most significant consequences regarding “choice” for Black women in particular and women in general?

ADE: Often, choice is conflated with opportunity. However, RJ focuses on “access” and not “choice,” and Roe v Wade is a perfect example of this critical distinction. Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey protect a person’s decision to terminate a pregnancy as a constitutional right until fetal viability (about 23-24 weeks). That said, Roe v Wade never guaranteed people meaningful access to abortion and to exercise their rights. For example, states have enacted laws such as waiting periods and regulations against abortion providers (also known as TRAP laws) that prevent access to timely and essential abortion care. Additionally, many people live in counties with no abortion provider. These barriers to access are exacerbated for people with lower income and in southern states where Black people are concentrated in.

In sum, repealing Roe v Wade would eliminate people’s right and access to abortion. The Turnaway Study outlines the significant adverse health and social consequences of carrying unwanted pregnancies to term. Pregnancy and childbirth are way more dangerous than abortion, with a greater likelihood of morbidity and mortality. Compared to other industrialized nations, the U.S. has the worst maternal health outcomes and is experiencing a Black maternal health crisis. For this reason, it is especially concerning that Black people, in particular, will be forced to give birth in the U.S. Furthermore, the social consequences of carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term include financial stressors (especially the concern of adequately providing for existing children), inability to pursue specific career/life goals, and being connected to an abusive partner. 

Another major consequence of overturning Roe v Wade is the criminalization of people who have an abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth. In the media, there is rhetoric that people will go back to the “old days” of carrying out dangerous abortions in secret; however, these are tropes that stigmatize Black and Brown people. In today’s modern age and with access to medication abortion (the abortion pill) for up to 12 weeks, people will likely be able to access a safe abortion in states where it is legal and illegal. (Much like how illegal substances are found all over the country). That said, people could be penalized and incarcerated for having a medicated abortion, which is the greatest concern to many activists. Incarceration is never the social or health solution.

Lastly, overturning Roe v Wade can make vulnerable other constitutional rights built off Roe’s precedent and the establishment of the right to privacy (e.g., Griswold v. Connecticut - the right to marry whoever you’d like). 

JLD: In your bio, you mentioned volunteering at the DC Abortion Fund (DCAF). Can you share about your experience at DCAF?

ADE: Great question! I love sharing about the work that I do and am so passionate about. First, I’d like to make it clear that I am very much pro-abortion. People often say, “nobody is pro-abortion, they are only pro-choice.”  Unequivocally, I can say that is false. I am pro-abortion and I think it is important to not shy away from saying the word abortion…abortion, abortion, abortion. There is too much stigma around abortion despite it being so common. Everyone loves someone that has had an abortion. (These conversation cards are a tool to guide crucial dialogues about abortion and reduce stigma).

To play a larger role in this issue, I completed a Pregnancy Loss and Abortion Doula Training. As a pregnancy loss and abortion doula, my role is to offer physical, mental, and emotional support before, during, and after an abortion. I decided to take my training and new knowledge to DCAF. I am a volunteer Case Manager at DCAF. In this position, I answer phone calls from people seeking an abortion but cannot afford the total cost of the surgical or medical abortion. The organization provides funding based on a funding rubric. I also help individuals find a clinic near them, and connect them to practical support organizations (e.g., transportation, lodging, escorts, and resources for houselessness and domestic violence). On a daily basis, I work with other local funders to ensure that patients' co-pays are as close to $0 as possible. Roughly, I receive 5-10 calls per day and work 3-5 day-long shifts.

JLD: Amanda Gorman recently presented 8 reasons to stand against abortion bans.  Specifically, she said, “When the penalty for rape is less than the penalty for abortion after the rape, you know this isn’t about caring for women and girls. It’s about controlling them.

1. Through forcing them into motherhood before they’re ready, these bans steadily sustain the patriarchy, but also chain families in poverty and maintain economic inequality.

2. Pregnancy is a private and personal decision and should not require the permission of any politician.

3. For all time, regardless of whether it’s a crime, women have and will always seek their own reproductive destinies. All these penalties do is subdue women’s freedom to get healthy, safe services when they most need them.

4. Fight to keep Roe v. Wade alive. By the term ‘overturn Roe v. Wade‘, the main concern is that the Supreme Court will let states thwart a woman’s path to abortion with undue burdens.

5. One thing is true and certain: These predictions aren’t a distortion, hypothetical, or theoretical. Women already face their disproportion of undue burdens when seeking abortions. If the sexes and all people are to be equal, abortion has to be actually accessible and not just technically legal.

6. Despite what you might hear, this right here isn’t only about women and girls. This fight is about fundamental civil rights. Women are a big part of it, but at the heart of it are freedom over how fast our families grow goes farther and larger than any one of us. It’s about every single one of us.

7. This change can’t wait. We’ve got the energy, the moment, the movement, and the thundering numbers.

Would you please provide your final remarks as well as anything you care to state about Gorman’s above remarks.

ADE: Gorman’s response is complete and thorough. I’d like to add to this reflection via a poem I wrote the week of the leaked SCOTUS opinion.

There is More to Life than Being Alive

I must be violated to have autonomy over my body.

I Must B. Violated  to choose my reproductive health care.

I must be violated, raped, and near death, To make a decision about MY body.

Make it make sense!

No reason is needed. Fuck them kids is plenty.

Fuck them kids is the US mantra for black, brown, queer, disabled, immigrant, and lower-income people.

The same people who forced us to be sterilized as a form of eugenics want us to carry to term.

The contradictions.

I can choose to wear a mask to protect me and you but cannot choose my reproductive health care.

Abortion access, essential health care, is being restricted during a maternal mortality crisis.

Make it make sense.

I am valued for my perspective until it’s too progressive.

The contradictions don’t stop.

We won’t stop!

JLD:  Amani, your responses too are complete and thorough.  I sincerely appreciate the informed commitment you bring to your work.

Jack L. Daniel

Co-founder, Freed Panther Society

Contributor, Pittsburgh Urban Media

Author, Negotiating a Historically White University While Black

May 31,  2022

 The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC have selected MaCalus V. Hogan, M.D., MBA as the new David Silver Professor and Chair of Pitt’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at UPMC, following a thoughtful yearlong national search to succeed Freddie H. Fu, M.D., whose legacy as department chair from 1998 to 2021 attained a stellar international reputation for leading key scientific and clinical innovations. The department grew into one of the most ethnic- and gender-diverse orthopaedic departments in the nation, preparing dozens of physicians to become leaders in orthopaedics at universities and hospitals throughout the world. Dr. Fu passed away in September 2021.

“The appointment of an individual to replace the ‘irreplaceable’ Dr. Freddie Fu is a decision that required great consideration. After a lengthy and very deliberate selection process, Dr. Hogan was clearly the preferred choice to not only build upon Dr. Fu’s legacy, but also lead the department into new territories for the future,” said Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences, Pitt; and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean, Pitt School of Medicine. “His commitment to building a diverse environment at Pitt/UPMC and growing the academic excellence in musculoskeletal research made him the ideal next chair.”

Dr. Hogan was recruited to Pitt and UPMC by Dr. Fu in 2013. Dr. Hogan’s focus has been serving as the Chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at UPMC, Vice Chair of Education and Residency Program Director in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UPMC. He is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, with secondary appointments in the Department of Bioengineering and the Katz School of Business. Dr. Hogan was the founder and Director of the Foot and Ankle Injury Research (F.A.I.R.) group at Pitt, within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. He serves as a foot and ankle consultant for the athletic departments at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, Duquesne University, and Robert Morris University. He is the Assistant Team Physician for Point Park University, including the Conservatory of Performing Arts, and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Dr. Hogan also serves as the foot and ankle consultant for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the UPMC Sports Medicine Institute.

“I am proud and delighted that Dr. Hogan will serve as the new chair. He is a compassionate clinician and dedicated researcher who demonstrates the Pitt/UPMC shared values and vision to continuously improve the definition of excellence and leadership in orthopaedic care,” said Leslie C. Davis, President and Chief Executive Officer, UPMC.

“Dr. Hogan’s expertise and extensive accolades demonstrate his utmost competency to lead our orthopaedic department’s academic faculty, physicians and clinical teams who have already set the standard in delivering the best evidence-based care for our patients and communities. UPMC’s orthopaedic department is known around the world for its leading advanced research, innovation and training for many aspects of orthopaedic and sports medicine care,” said Joon Sup Lee, M.D., Executive Vice President, UPMC; President, UPMC Physician Services; and Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs, Pitt School of Medicine. “I am confident that Dr. Hogan’s leadership will continue the success of the department for many years to come.”

Dr. Hogan has been selected as a “Best Doctor” by Best Doctors in America® and Pittsburgh Magazine annually since 2016. His physician executive and community efforts resulted in his selection to DiversityMBA's Top 100 Under 50 Executive Leaders in 2018. Most notably, he was selected as one of Modern Healthcare’s Top 15 Up and Comers as an emerging national leader in health care in 2018.

Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dr. Hogan is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Association, Orthopaedic Research Society, among other national organizations, and currently serves on the board of directors for the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society. He is the author of over 250 manuscripts, book chapters, and abstracts and frequently presents both nationally and internationally on his management of foot and ankle injuries, regenerative bioengineering, clinical outcomes research and health care delivery transformation.

“I am honored to take on this leadership role and look forward to taking UPMC and Pitt orthopaedics to the next level. There is no other option for excellent care than UPMC. What we offer locally, nationally and globally is unmatched,” said Dr. Hogan. “I am excited to get to work, amplifying and advancing this department and orthopaedic service line into the future through cutting-edge care and innovation.”

Originally from Muscle Shoals, Ala., Dr. Hogan completed his undergraduate studies at Xavier University of Louisiana with a B.S. in biochemistry and minor in biology. He received his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., and completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Va., which included a National Institutes of Health Clinician Scientist fellowship year with a focus in musculoskeletal tissue repair and regeneration. He completed his foot and ankle fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, where he served as a consultant for the New York Ballet Company, American Ballet Theatre, and several collegiate and professional sports teams. In 2018, Dr. Hogan also earned an Executive Master of Business Administration in health care at the University of Pittsburgh – Katz Graduate School of Business.

Source: UPMC