Winter 2019


Mayor Recognizes Women With Heart With City’s Highest Honor


The HBCU Advocate 11


Eliminating Healthcare Disparities One Bright Mind at a Time


“If you can see it, you can be it.”


BHLI Scholars pictured with Nicholas Tejeda, Market CEO of the Hospitals of Providence (center)


BY MONTOYA COLLINS, OFFICE MANAGER, BLUFORD HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE John W. Bluford III, (Fisk


‘71), President and Founder of the Bluford Healthcare


Institute (BHLI) believes developing a pipeline of talented,


Photo courtesy of Morehouse School of Medicine BY MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE


Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance


Bottoms honored Women With Heart and the 10th anniversary of Heart Healthy Week by presenting the Morehouse School of Medicine volunteer group with the city’s highest honor, the Phoenix Award.


Addressing attendees at this


year’s Women’s Heart Healthy Luncheon, Bottoms – one of the event co-chairs – praised the organization’s achievements over the past 10 years. Those include more than $1.4 million raised, over 100 students awarded scholarships, thousands of free health screenings provided to seniors and other community


members,


and countless lives saved through education.


“This event is not for someone


else. It’s for all of us,” Bottoms told the record crowd of more than 570, urging women to be vigilant about their own cardiac risks. “We have to take it seriously. We have to listen to our bodies and slow down if necessary. We have to pay attention to our doctors.”


once


CBS 46 reporter Karen Greer again


graced the Georgia auction that the dais Aquarium’s Oceans


Ballroom as the event’s mistress of ceremonies and presided over the silent


included items


such as jewelry, luxury vacation trips, weekend getaways, golf outings, and fine dining.


Morgan, research Institute,


Keynote speaker Dr. Jayne director at


of the workplace Piedmont discussed the


cardiovascular Health


“top 10 challenges for women”


that can contribute to heart disease. Things such as “housework in the workplace,” in which women are assigned lesser tasks such as party planning, taking minutes or cleaning up; women feeling like they must display one personality in the office and another, more real, version of themselves outside of work; or the anxiety that results from constantly questioning themselves, can all take their toll over time.


Morgan also pointed out the differences in the words attributed to of


men versus women in the workplace – for example, men are assertive, women are bossy. Women’s body language is also frequently misinterpreted, she notes. Crossed arms, clasping or sitting on hands are


not necessarily signs


of being closed off or anxious. The answer is often much simpler.


“It’s too cold! Turn the thermostat to the right a little bit,” Morgan said.


are


Outside the workplace, women poorly represented


emotional, that we’re having a panic attack,” Morgan said.


having a panic attack


Three women who were not but instead


suffered real-life heart attacks, shared their stories of survival. The tales from Cecelia Bailey, Dr. Pamela Daniels and Melanie Thompson demonstrated the vivid contrast in symptoms that can occur among women in the throes of a cardiac incident. Their experiences ranged


from unexplained the chest-crushing


pressure most associated with a heart attack


to simple symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of


breath or increased anxiety, with no accompanying chest discomfort.


MSM President and Dean Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D., took time to honor Eilene


Maupin, former


MSM first lady and Women With Heart founder, who launched this initiative in 2009 over lunch with a group of 10 friends. After a tribute video retrospective,


Montgomery


Rice closed by announcing that MSM would contributing $10,000 the Eilene Maupin Women With Heart Endowed Scholarship Fund, and that she and her husband were personally donating an additional $5,000.


Former MSM President John


Maupin, M.D., announced the creation of the fund honoring his wife at the Men’s Heart Healthy Breakfast


the


day before with his personal gift of $50,000 and a challenge for others to join him. The $15,000 in contributions announced by Montgomery Rice were the first in what the school hopes will be many more responses.


in research,


drug and treatment trials, and face an inherent bias in patient care.


“We’re told we’re hysterical, too


undergraduates for leadership roles in healthcare will serve to eliminate healthcare disparities among minority and vulnerable populations over the next several generations.


Welcoming


in 2019, the BHLI has mentored 81 undergraduate Historically


its 7th cohort scholars from


Black Colleges


and Universities including Fisk University, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical


College and Tuskegee University. The Institute based in Kansas


City, MO, was established in 2013 and exposes scholars to various facets of healthcare


administration while


developing their leadership skills to position the talented men and women for life long careers in healthcare leadership.


The BHLI continues to


positively impact the field of healthcare. From among the BHLI’s 46 scholars who have earned their undergraduate degrees, 36 of those undergraduates are serving in the field of healthcare or earning related graduate degrees including Raynard Ware


(2014 Cohort). Raynard


matriculated at Morehouse College in


Master’s Degree in Health Systems Administration


Atlanta, GA and earned his from Georgetown


University. “The BHLI has positively impacted my life in unimaginable ways,” Raynard explains. “I am thankful for the work that the BHLI has done and will continue to do providing


pathways for under-


represented youth into healthcare professions and leadership.” Ware is currently completing an executive residency with the Hospital Corporation of America in Nashville, TN. His advocacy for the BHLI is evident through his activism to lead a


philanthropic initiative engaging


BHLI alumni and teaching them that giving back is an important characteristic of leadership.


The BHLI has coordinated


nearly 60 paid internships across the nation for its scholars. As the scholars enter the healthcare workforce and engage in leadership roles, they will serve to increase the diversity among the C-Suites of healthcare systems.


Alexis Hawks (2013 Cohort)


University, Morehouse College, North Carolina &Technical


University, Lincoln Agricultural


University, Spelman


Leadership minority


received her undergraduate


at North Carolina &


Technical degree Agricultural University and


Master’s Degree in Public Health Administration at the University of Kansas. Alexis is currently working at the University of Kansas - School of Health Professions in the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science Department; “The BHLI impacted my life in a way I will never forget. I was introduced to people whom I would have never imagined meeting. Because of my experience, I now view healthcare with a new pair of eyes and know what it takes to transform our society,” says Hawks.


Founder and Fisk University


alumnus John W. Bluford has over four decades of experience in hospital and health system administration and executive a nationally


in Healthcare. Bluford


leadership. He is known healthcare


innovator recognized by Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the Most Influential People


served as Chairman of the American Hospital Association,


America’s


Essential Hospitals, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and the Missouri Hospital Association.


The Institute’s program speakers


have included Patricia Maryland, Dr. PH, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ascension Healthcare; Ian


Morrison, Author, Consultant


& Futurist; Bruce Siegel, MD, President and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals, and leaders from the American Hospital Association including Richard Pollack, President and CEO and Priscilla Ross, Senior Associate Director


of Federal


Relations. The program continues to host an elite and diverse line up of nationally


recognized


professionals who have positively impacted the healthcare arena across the country while strongly influencing scholar participants.


The BHLI is expanding its


national footprint. The Institute now impacts and partners with a host of premier


healthcare organizations


around the country such as Duke University Hospital (Durham, NC), Hennepin Healthcare


(Minneapolis,


MN) and Henry Ford Health System (Detroit. MI).


Bluford states, “The Bluford


Institute has developed an impressive platform for nurturing and developing talented HBCU scholars for a lifelong career of positively impacting communities providing


of them rewarding career.”


color, as well as the basis for a


executive


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