COVID Vaccine: Personal & Professional Perspectives Within African American and Latino Communities 

The Children's Study Home (CSH), in partnership with the Public Health Institute of Western, MA is hosting a virtual panel discussion, The COVID Vaccine: Personal & Professional Perspectives Within African American and Latino Communities, on Friday, March 5, 2021 at 12 p.m. ET.

As an employer of a culturally diverse team of mostly direct care/frontline staff, The Children's Study Home is concerned about the relatively low participation by communities of color in receiving the vaccine.  We believe it is important to respect the decisions of individuals who wish not to receive a treatment that they either have trust or efficacy concerns about.  But as a long-serving member of this community, we also believe we have an obligation to help our staff and fellow community members to make informed decisions.  So, we have assembled a panel discussion for and by people of color. This includes two Latino and two African American community leaders in social services, medicine, and public health:

• Ronn Johnson, M.Ed., President/CEO, Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services Inc. 
• Sarah Perez McAdoo, MD, MPH, Population Health Capstone Director, University of Massachusetts Medical School–Baystate 
• Miguel Rodriguez, MD, Pulmonologist, Holyoke Medical Center 
• Frank Robinson, PhD, Vice President, Public Health for Baystate Health 

This panel discussion will be moderated by Jessica Collins, MS, Executive Director of the Public Health Institute of Western MA.  Dr. William Dávila, Ed.D., LICSW, will host the event on behalf of The Children's Study Home.  

Bios

• Ronn Johnson, M.Ed., was elected to serve as President/CEO of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Family Services Inc., (MLK) in 2012.  Johnson brings a proven track record of driving organizational development, building and retaining community coalitions through cross-functional partnerships in the financial sector, as well as the social services and educational sectors. In addition to his role at MLKFS he has held Senior Executive leadership roles at the Center for Human Development and MassMutual Life Ins. Ronn is a lifelong resident of Springfield and brings his successful strategies for community engagement to every aspect of leadership at MLKFS and the Greater the Springfield community.
• Dr. Sarah Perez McAdoo, MD, MPH, is a public health physician who is passionate and committed to transforming the health of communities by addressing health inequities and the social factors that influence health. Her work has focused in the areas of public policy, community-based strategies, program planning, health advocacy and healthcare education. Currently, Dr. McAdoo is the Population Health Capstone Director for the Population based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) Track at the University of Massachusetts Medical School - Baystate. Her work uses a team approach to design a Longitudinal Community based Education experience to compliment the bio-medical education of medical students. Her primary projects include creating a volunteer non -clinical community faculty, implementation of an immersive population health clerkship and building the Community-Doctor relationship.
• Dr. Miguel Rodriguez, MD, is a Critical Care Medicine and Pulmonologist Specialist in Springfield, MA and has over 20 years of experience in the medical field.  He graduated from University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2001.  He is affiliated with Holyoke Medical Center.
• Dr. Frank Robinson, PhD, is the Vice President of Public Health for Baystate Health. In this role, Dr. Robinson is responsible for integrating clinical and community care to better serve vulnerable people and populations across the spectrum of diversity and create healthier communities. In leading Baystate’s efforts to expand the definition of health to include economic opportunity; access to education, nutritious food and culture; safe neighborhoods, and other underlying essentials of a person’s and a community’s ability to thrive. Dr. Robinson focuses on building community partnerships to achieve large-scale health improvements, including resource development, health education and health equity initiatives and community benefits.
• Dr. William Dávila, Ed.D., LICSW, is Executive Director of The Children's Study Home, bringing 25 years of experience in nonprofit management and social services as a practitioner, manager, and senior-level administrator and executive, including his tenure as Deputy Executive Director of CSH, from 2006-2011.
• Jessica Collins, MS, is Executive Director of the Public Health Institute of Western MA.  Jessica has thirty years of experience in domestic and international community health leading communities to create and sustain programmatic, policy and infrastructure change that supports quality of life.  Ms. Collins also serves as the Co-Director of the BeHealthy Partnership, the ACO made up of Health New England, Baystate Health and Caring Health Center.  She was one of the founders of the Live Well Springfield coalition.