Welcome to the very first installment of The

Center, the Jewish Renaissance Medical Center’s

independent quarterly newsletter!

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

In this issue:

1 ………… Employee Spotlight 2 ………… National Health Center Week 2015 3 ………… Welcome AmeriCorps 3 ………… Coverage to Care Campaign 4 ………… Women’s Health Programs 4 ………… Anniversary Gala 5 ………… 13th Avenue Elementary School

J E W I S H R E N A I S S A N C E M E D I C A L C E N T E R

The Center

Employee Spotlight: NJ’s Favorite Kids’ Docs

From left to right: Dr. Darlene

Forbes and Maria Jose Skennion

The Favorite Kids’ Docs Awards are presented by New Jersey Family Magazine to

doctors nominated by children and adolescents as their favorite doctor!

Dr. Darlene Forbes is a board certified pediatrician at JRMC. This is her second consecutive year of winning the NJ Favorite Kids’ Docs Award.

Maria Jose Skennion is a nutritionist and dietician at JRMC. This is her first nomination for NJ Kids’ Docs Award.

What do you think is the biggest issue in kid’s health today? I think the biggest issue actually may still be access for some people. [A] six month old will have their first visit here and I’ll say, “Oh, well how come your baby hasn’t been seen by anybody?” “Well I don’t have any health insur-ance.” And I’m like, “Don’t you know you can come to [JRMC]?” [Although] healthcare is readily accessible, not everybody knows it. What inspired you to work with kids? That’s a tough one. I guess when I think about kids, I think about their

future and there’s a lot of hope. And the big thing for me when I was choos-ing my career in medicine [was that] when you are dealing with kids you usually can fix it. [That’s] not to say that there aren’t going to be chronic illnesses where they are really going to have trouble, but for the most part, you know the parents are really invest-ed in wanting the best for their kids and there is a lot of education you can do. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I know it sounds cliché but I wanted to be a doctor.

What do you think is the biggest issue in kids’ health today? The biggest issues are diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity. Obesity is very, very bad. I think it may be the biggest. How would you recommend addressing obesity? You talk with the kids and you recom-mend what to eat. Really the ones who have to make the changes are the par-ents. It’s a big challenge because the

parents buy the food, they prepare the food, and they control the portions. Sometimes, they are the problem, not the kids. How do you reach out to the kids besides talking to the parents? I work a lot with MyPlate. Pictures, designs, games mostly. I have plastic food molds I put on the plate and I ask what they eat and they pick out the food. When they pick a lot of starch,

that’s when I start working with them. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a dancer. What was your favorite cartoon show growing up? I loved cartoons. I still love cartoons. The Jetsons, I love them. I like Mr. Ma-goo. I like Top Cat and Wally Gator. There are many.

June – August 2015

“To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens.” - Unknown

Highlights: National Health Center Week

Thank you to all of

our sponsors who

made NHCW possible

for our community,

and who make serving

o u r c o m m u n i t y

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An Hour of Power: Newark

Horizon Smoothie Workshop

An Hour of Power: Perth Amboy

Pfizer Lecture: Opioids

Health Fair: Perth Amboy

Health Fair: Newark

JRMC kicked off National Health Center Week with a new walking group in Newark. Members met at Branch Brook Park and walked members through the greener, more scenic spaces of New Jersey’s urban landscapes.

Thank you to all participants!

Dr. Alminda D’Agostino from Horizon NJ Health came by with some surprising facts about fats in popular foods. She offered plenty of nutri-tion tips and even showcased a bike-powered smoothie maker!

The Office of Aging brought along a spunky, robust crowd of senior citizens who weren’t afraid to offer commentaries.

JRMC launched a Perth Amboy version of the Hour of Power walking group! Group members walked nearly 2 hours together from JRMC head-quarters to the famous waterfront and back.

Thank you to all participants!

Dean Gianarkis, MS, PharmD, delivered a fascinating lecture on Opioid Abuse & Prescription Medication. Employees learned about current practices in opioid pharmacology and identifying abusive behaviors in patients.

Mario’s Famous Pizza of Perth Amboy catered the lunch. They are now famous at JRMC for their delicious wraps!

JRMC hosted a free, comprehensive health fair

and Family Fun Fest for Perth Amboy residents.

Esteemed speakers Dr. Alan Goldsmith, Senator Robert Menendez, Mayor Wilda Diaz and Carla Carter from the NJ Department of Health offered their remarks at the Proclamation Ceremony.

Thank you to all of our partners and sponsors.

JRMC hosted a second health fair and Family Fun

Fest for the residents of Newark.

The Newark Flash Mob surprised us all with the Fly Dance! Check out the dance on #FlyDance.

Thank you to all of our partners and sponsors.

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JRMC received an AmeriCorps grant last April to hire on 5 passionate VISTA members in July and task them with expanding the reach and magnifying the impact of JRMC’s services on the underserved and uninsured community. JRMC also received an AmeriCorps State National (SN) member last December through a JRF AmeriCorps grant award. For one year, these 6 AmeriCorps members commit to supporting and serving alongside JRMC to improve the health and qualities of life of those most in need in our community.

VISTA, or Volunteers In Service To America, began as an integral part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty campaign. This year, VISTA celebrates 50 years of service to America’s impoverished population and 22 years as a division of AmeriCorps. VISTA is unique to AmeriCorps in that its mission centers on resolving poverty through

indirect services and organizational capacity building. JRMC’s 5 VISTA members will develop and launch programs and initiatives to assist JRMC’s Planning & Development team, revamp JRMC’s marketing strategy, and expand the capacities of both departments.

The SN division of AmeriCorps was created at the time of AmeriCorps’ inception under President Bill Clinton. AmeriCorps SN members focus on engaging the public, both directly and indirectly, through their missions of

JRMC & AmeriCorps Serve Together

When asked why they joined AmeriCorps and chose JRMC as their site of service, this is how our service members replied:

Nicholas Hudanish, VISTA

“To help people in need get

quality health care.”

Nicolle Segarra, SN

“To experience the service side

of the medical field, as I aspire to

become a well-rounded doctor.”

Daye Lee, VISTA

“To invest my efforts into a

meaningful cause, and into a

place where the impact of my

work would be real and

tangible.”

Aimee Ulep, VISTA

“To spend a year in service

helping bring awareness to and

fulfill the medical needs of

people in poverty.”

William McGee, VISTA

“To build sustainable health

programs to help underserved

populations have a better quality

of life.”

Matthew Riedinger, VISTA

“To serve my country in a way I

can give back to the community.”

On Monday, August 31st, JRMC launched a Coverage to Care Campaign. For the 8 weeks leading up to Marketplace Enrollment, we will be breaking down cumbersome information on healthcare and coverage into easy-to-understand, bite-sized parcels.

The campaign will follow Health Insurance Marketplace’s “From Coverage to Care: A Roadmap to Better Care and a Healthier You” guide book. Visit marketplace.cms.gov for your

own reference guide.

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @jrmc_news. You can find us and our campaign on #Enroll365, and watch out for our weekly hashtags:

#CostTipTuesday

#WordyWednesday

#FunFactFriday

FROM COVERAGE TO CARE

of community service. J R F - J R M C ’ s S N member is assigned the key mission of improv-ing JRMC’s entire spec-trum of public relations.

IS THE FUTURE’S HEALTH

WOMEN’S HEALTH

Anniversary Gala

October 15, 2015

Liberty House Restaurant

Cocktail Hour: 6 PM Dinner Reception: 7 PM

15th Happy Anniversary, JRMC

On Thursday, October 15, the Jewish Renaissance Foundation

(JRF) is commemorating JRF’s 20-year anniversary and JRMC’s 15

years of service to the medically underserved populations in New Jersey.

This is the time of year that JRMC celebrates the power of people

coming together for a common cause and acknowledges the people

and organizations who have made our efforts meaningful.

The Anniversary Gala will feature live Brazilian entertainment

from Samba Nova, a cocktail hour for mingling with industry peers,

and an awards dinner to honor our esteemed partners in health and in

service.

To reserve your space or become a Gala sponsor, please contact

Sorangie Castillo at scastillo@jrmc.us.

275 Hobart Street Perth Amboy, NJ, 08861

www. jrmc.us marketing@jrmc.us

In October, JRMC will be unveiling a new School-Based Health Center at the 13th Avenue Elementary School.

The new center will offer a full suite of medical, dental, and behavioral services. Like all of our other NSBHCs, the health center will be open to people of all ages and walks of life, and is not exclu-sively for the benefit of students.

13th Avenue Elementary School 359 13th Avenue Newark, NJ 07103

973-622-5762 13thAve@jrmc.us

13th Avenue

JRMC is committed to women’s health. Our OB/GYN

and adult medicine departments partner with the

community to ensure that the women who come to our

health center have a wide, comprehensive range of

services available to them. Here is just a sampling of the

services we offer:

PREGNANCY TESTS

CEED

CENTERING PREGNANCY

JRMC hosts free breast, colorectal, and pap smear screenings as part of the Middlesex County CEED (Cancer Education & Early Detection) program.

Certain eligibility rules apply, and patients must make an appointment through the Middlesex County office.

JRMC offers free pregnancy tests in the Women’s Wellness Center every Wednesday from 9 am - 12 pm.

Walk-ins are welcome, parental consent is not required, and women requesting the tests will not be required to fill out any medical forms.

JRMC is an approved site for Centering Pregnancy, a 10-month group program for pregnant women in need of pre- and post-natal care and support.

Groups meet once a month from their first month of pregnancy through the month of the baby’s birth. New groups start every month, and both Spanish and English-speaking groups are available.