Root of the Issue

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Peter Simonsson, PhD, MSW, LCSW, a criminologist at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.  Dr. Simonsson has extensive experience conducting community research in criminal-legal settings with a focus on violence and violent victimization. In addition to his academic work, he serves as an expert witness in hea...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Dr. Tiffany Preston Whitman, an at-large Toledo, Ohio City Council member. Since arriving on the Council, Councilwoman Whitman has led efforts for historic reinvestment in youth programming and sponsored legislation to increase public safety accountability and transparency. Over the course of their conversation they discuss: The cr...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Toni Jones, Senior Director of Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Growth at CareSource, a member-centric managed care plan . In her role, Toni works with internal market teams and external partners to address social care barriers and health inequities through the CareSource Life Services model. Over the course of their conversati...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Hayley Studer, Founder and CEO, of achi Solutions . Following a 20 year career in healthcare finance, Hayley left her executive position to embark on a new journey to fuse her passion and purpose for community work and service. Over the course of their conversation they discuss: Hayley’s background on the development of achi Soluti...

This week on Root of the Issue our host, Barbara Petee, is joined by Rob Casalou, President and CEO of Trinity Health Michigan & Southeast Regions and Sean Gehle, Regional Vice President, Advocacy, Trinity Health Michigan.  In their respective roles, both gentlemen work tirelessly to advocate for the health and wellbeing of the patients and families they are ...

This week on Root of the Issue, we are revisiting a conversation from last year with Susan Fuehrer of the MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio. Susan, who serves as President of the Institute of H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportunity, Partnership, and Empowerment), works with her team to address the social determinants of health in an ambitious, comprehensive, and coordinated manner. Susan goes on to say...

Lilian Ho, M.D., a pediatric hospitalist, provides care to infants and children at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Dr. Ho is a fierce advocate for addressing the social determinants of health to help ensure all of her patients and families have access to the most basic needs. Dr. Ho discusses the obstacles patients must tackle while living in remote areas of Alaska, some of...

On this special re-release of a conversation from last year, Rachelle Reyes Wenger, System Vice President of Public Policy & Advocacy Engagement for CommonSpirit Health, joins host Barbara Petee to discuss the power of collaboration in the face of seemingly insurmountable societal obstacles. From climate change to social justice reform to health inequity, Rachelle believes that through the det...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Alfreda Rooks, MPA, Director of Community Health Services (CHS) at Michigan Medicine, UM Health. In this role, Alreda works to advance the mission to identify creative solutions to address the various health and social needs of the community. Over the course of their conversation they discuss the work that CHS does across...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by two guests from the Food Bank Council of Michigan, Dr. Phil Knight, Executive Director, and Dr. Dawn Opel, Chief Innovation Officer, and General Counsel. The Food Bank Council of Michigan (FBCM) has a unified strategy to address and alleviate hunger statewide by increasing emergency food resources and advocating on behalf of the hu...

Host Barbara Petee joins Dr. Shannon Orr, Founder and Director of the Falcon Food and Resource Community and /Falcon Food Pantry at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio to discuss Orr's pathway towards tackling food scarcity, how hunger impacts the outcomes for college students, and the personal connections she has made that led to the creation of the Falcon Food Pantry. When aske...

In this special encore episode, host Barbara Petee talks with David Waters, CEO of Community Servings, a critical regional program providing medically tailored meal (MTM) plans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Waters discusses the role that MTMs play in tackling a variety of issues often facing underserved communities, both in terms of social justice, food insecurity, and health care. Waters say...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Mike Curtin, CEO of the DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C. DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) is an iconic nonprofit and social enterprise that combats hunger and poverty through job training and job creation. Over the course of their conversation, Mike details his unconventional path into the non-profit space, his childhood upbringing...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Shenandoah Chefalo, a certified coach and member of the Foster Leaders Movement, as well as president and owner of Chefalo Consulting: Trauma Informed Specialists that helps private government and public organizations implement sustainable trauma informed strategies. In their conversation, Shenandoah shares the compelling stor...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Christa Barfield, the founder and CEO of Farmer Jawn Agriculture, a community greenhouse and CSA (community supported agriculture), in Philadelphia. Over the course of the conversation Christa shares her “aha” moment, a January 2018 trip to Martinique. Her experiences there catapulted her out of a career in healthcare and into her...

In this very special episode, we revisit our conversation with Melissa Fox the Chief Operating Officer for Acenda Integrated Health. Acenda is an integrated health care organization dedicated to world-class prevention, treatment and wellness services. Their care is compassionately delivered to ensure that every individual, family and community achieves their greatest potential. Fox’s dedicati...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Susan Benigas, the Executive Director of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). Susan shares the powerful work of the ACLM, and its focus on lifestyle medicine, a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions. Applying the six pillar...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Cathryn Couch, the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Ceres Community Project. Cathryn shares how her time in both the corporate and non-profit worlds honed her leadership skills, the significance of food as medicine, as well as the importance of providing the next generation with the tools they need to be capable of suffic...

This week on Root of the Issue our host Barbara Petee is joined by Gary Cates, the Chief Philanthropy and Government Relations Officer for ProMedica. Gary shares his story on how he became involved in the movement towards addressing the social determinants of health as well as some of those that influenced and inspired him along the way. When asked why health equity is such an important issue for...

Denise Scott, President of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), joins host Barbara Petee to provide a breakdown of the intersectional approach her organization takes towards tackling social determinants of health across a variety of communities. When asked how she keeps going when things seem so challenging, Denise simply said: "I have seen the success of the intention...

Larry Burns, President and CEO of the Children’s Foundation, joins host Barbara Petee to discuss the work he leads as well as how the vision and focus of the organization has evolved over the last few years in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. When asked how he would defined health equity, Larry had this to say: “[health equity] … is having everybody, regardless of where they live, where they com...

Billy Shore, founder and executive chair of Share Our Strength, the parent organization for the No Kid Hungry campaign, joins host Barbara Petee to discuss what is possible when organizations work together, lending their unique strengths, to tackle the overwhelming social determinant of childhood hunger. When asked what keeps his team going, Billy commented: “We look for something that the wr...

DeAnna Minus-Vincent, who currently serves as the Chief Social Justice and Accountability Officer for RWJBarnabas Health, joins host Barbara Petee to discuss the work that must be done in the nation’s efforts towards instituting an anti-racist framework in the health care community. She recounts drawing inspiration from her mother’s activist work, as well as her own experience of dealing with...

On this week’s episode Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League (NUL), joins host Barbara Petee to discuss the role of social advocacy groups and community organizing in the long term fight toward achieving health equity. Here, Morial speaks on the power of volunteerism in creating change; “I think my advice is to find a purpose, or a cause or an organization and volunteer...

On this week’s episode, host Barbara Petee is joined by Susan Fuehrer of the MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio. Susan, who serves as President of the Institute of H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportunity, Partnership, and Empowerment), works with her team to address the social determinants of health in an ambitious, comprehensive, and coordinated manner. Susan goes on to say that, “You know, people are r...