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Hello everyone! I certainly hope this message finds you all healthy and well during this unprecedented time. There are not adequate words to express my respect, appreciation, and gratitude for the level of dedication and hard work that has been exhibited by all public health workers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. You all are simply the BEST!
TPHA has fantastic news to share with you all: the 2020 Annual Conference is going virtual!! The Board of Directors and Committee Chairs have been hard at work to put together a wonderful line-up of conference speakers and provide you all with a fantastic virtual conference experience. You will be able to participate in the virtual conference live from September 9-11th with a few pre-conference events taking place on September 8th. Additionally, if you are unable to join us live, the conference will be recorded for you to watch and
get the conference experience, as well as continuing education credits, until December 31, 2020!
Adding to our virtual conference experience, TPHA now has our own mobile app which will be available for download from the app store in the next couple of weeks. Be on the lookout for more information about the app experience, how and when to download, and graphics of TPHA’s new mobile app!
While we will miss seeing everyone face-to-face this year at the conference, we do hope that you can find some time to join us virtually as we will be offering an engaging line-up and sharing some exciting upcoming information about TPHA.
Thank you again for all of your hard work and dedication to Public Health and the communities you serve every day. We look forward to “seeing” and celebrating you in September!
All My Best,
Haley Colvin, MA, RD, LDN, CLC
President’s Message from Haley Colvin
Volume 23, No 2
Spring & Summer Edition
Tony Finnell Named Inaugural Regional Health Council Member of the Year
Submitted by Amanda Goodhard, Assessment & Planning Coordinator, Southeast Region
T ony Finnell was awarded with the first Regional Health
Council Member of the Year Award in the Southeast
region. Tony has volunteered for the Meigs Health
Council for several years. During that time he has done
anything necessary to help the Health Council meet their
goals. He has assisted with building tracks and taken care of
logistics for events like Healthy Horizons and the Life
Maze. One example of Tony going above and beyond was
when the Health Council borrowed a portable jail for the Life
Maze from another county. Two of the tires of the trailer
transporting the jail fell apart completely, so Tony rounded up
two tires, changed the tires, and then drove the trailer with the
portable jail back to the county from which we borrowed
it. There is really nothing that Tony won't do to help out his
county. He was given this well-deserved award on Tuesday,
January 28th during Dr. Piercey’s visit to the region. Tony Finnell pictured with Commissioner Piercey.
Inside this issue — meet the candidates for next year’s President, Vice Presidents, and Board Representatives.
Kim Harrell Executive Director
Savannah Collier Public Relations Committee Chair
Tennessee Public
Health Association
Volume 23 , No 2 Page 2
McNairy Critical Conversations: ACEs Forum Submitted by Beth Hamilton, Health Educator, West Region
C ritical Conversations: ACEs Forum:
Building A Thriving Community in
McNairy County event was held
Friday, February 7th, 2020 at the Selmer
Community Center. The event was
presented by the McNairy Family Center,
Tennessee Childcare Resource & Referral
Network, Women’s Resource and Rape
Assistance Program (WRAP), Healthier
Beginnings: Jackson-Madison County and
the Tennessee Commission on Children
and Youth. The 86 attendees included
community leaders, government officials,
healthcare professionals, faith-based
organizations, civic groups, and school
administrators.
The purpose of the event was to give an
overview of the issue of Adverse
Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and
develop an action plan to build a more
resilient safe, stable and nurturing
environment for children and families.
McNairy County Mayor Larry Smith gave
opening remarks. Morning guest speakers
included Roy Ray and Rotary-Family
Youth Initiative, Inc.; Billy Brown, President
and Director of the McNairy Family Center;
and a panel discussion of West
Tennessee experts from a variety of
specialties. In the afternoon, attendees
divided into five work groups representing
the protective factors for strengthening
families. The work groups developed
action plans with concrete tasks to be
started by the next week.
This event kicked-off the community-wide
movement called “McNairy STRONG:
Building a Thriving Community.” Our hope
is the community will embrace this effort
and bring lasting change for children and
families. These efforts will continue and
serve as part of the County Health
Assessment Action Plan which is led by
the McNairy County Health Council.
Attendees divided into five work groups representing the protective factors for strengthening
families. Work groups developed action plans with tasks to be started by the next week.
Opportunities with TPHA Live Online Professional Grant Development Workshop | Master the tech-
niques of writing superior winning proposals. August 13-14, 2020, 9:30 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. CDT. Sponsored by the Grant Training Center. Workshop Fee:
$595.00 (includes resources, workbook, and certificate of completion). Register at granttrainingcenter.com.Rebate of $45.00 per person for two plus registrants from
the same organization. This webinar will also take place on August 27-28, 2020.
APHA is hosting a webinar series on advancing racial equity: Sign up here.
TPHA is looking for guest bloggers! TPHA’s added a blog to the website during
National Public Health Week and it was well received by readers. We are looking
for topics that showcase the subject matter expertise of our members and
encourage anyone interested to contact Kim Harrell, [email protected].
TPHA Quarterly Page 3
2020 TPHA Annual Educational Conference | A Vision for the Healthiest Tennessee: People Centered, Data Driven, Evidence Based
Submitted by Christian Williams
T he Program Committee has worked diligently to
transition to a virtual format while still offering
attendees a wide range of speakers and workshops
that align with this year’s theme, “A Vision for the Healthiest
Tennessee: People Centered, Data Driven, Evidence
Based.” On behalf of the Program Committee, we are
excited to share a sneak peek at this year’s plenary
speakers!
Tim Jones, MD, Chief Medical Officer is
our featured keynote speaker for
Wednesday, September 9th. Dr. Jones
completed medical school at Stanford
University and a residency in Family
Medicine and fellowship in Maternal
Child Health at Brown University/
Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island. After
practicing in an underserved area for several years, he
joined the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) where
he was assigned to the Tennessee Department of Health.
He served for many years as State Epidemiologist, and is
now Chief Medical Officer in the Tennessee Department of
Health, with oversight of: communicable diseases,
emergency preparedness, laboratory services, informatics,
substance use disorder response, and statewide county
health department services. He holds a clinical appointment
at Vanderbilt Medical Center, and is a member of the CDC/
Office of Infectious Diseases Board of Scientific
Counselors. He has served as President of the Council of
State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and is Chair of the
MMWR Editorial Board. He has completed numerous
training and consultation assignments with CDC and WHO,
and published over 160 articles in the peer-reviewed
scientific literature.
Daniel E. Dawes, JD will be leading the
morning plenary session on Thursday.
Daniel E. Dawes is a nationally
recognized healthcare leader, attorney,
policy expert, administrator and author
who has been at the forefront of recent
major federal healthcare policy
negotiations in the United States. His
work focuses on health reform, health equity, mental/
behavioral health, social determinants of health, poverty,
and health system transformation, and bridges research,
healthcare, population health and public health. Dawes is
the author of two groundbreaking books published by
Johns Hopkins University Press: 150 Years of Obamacare
and The Political Determinants of Health. He was an
instrumental figure in shaping the Mental Health Parity Act,
the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the
Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, the
Affordable Care Act, and other federal policies. Dawes is a
professor of health law and policy, the Director of the
Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Executive Director of
Health Policy at Morehouse School of Medicine, and
cofounder of the Health Equity Leadership
and Exchange Network (HELEN).
Commissioner Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP,
will give the annual Commissioner’s
Address on Thursday afternoon. Dr.
Piercey spent a decade in health systems
operations, most recently as Executive
Vice President of West Tennessee
Healthcare, a public, not-for-profit health system with over
7,000 employees serving 22 counties. Dr. Piercey is board
certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in both
General Pediatrics and in the specialty field of Child Abuse
Pediatrics. She is a Fellow of the American College of
Healthcare Executives, where she served as President of
the Mid-South Healthcare Executives chapter, as well as
the National Chairman of the
Management Series Editorial Board.
The closing plenary, “Health Have and
Health Have Nots in a Time of COVID-
19” features, Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH,
MPH. Sandro Galea, a physician,
epidemiologist, and author, is Dean and
Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston
University School of Public Health. He
previously held academic and leadership positions at
Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the
New York Academy of Medicine. He has published
extensively in the peer-reviewed literature, and is a regular
contributor to a range of public media, about the social
causes of health, mental health, and the consequences of
trauma. He has been listed as one of the most widely cited
scholars in the social sciences. He is chair of the board of
the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
and past president of the Society for Epidemiologic
Research and of the Interdisciplinary Association for
Population Health Science. He is an elected member of the
National Academy of Medicine. Galea has received several
lifetime achievement awards. Galea holds a medical
degree from the University of Toronto, graduate degrees
from Harvard University and Columbia University, and an
honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow.
While we will not be able to connect with you in person, we
are excited for some of the features we can now offer by
moving to a virtual conference. Each session will be live
streamed at the time of the event but if you cannot make it,
the recording will be available for attendees to watch at
their convenience. In addition, this year we will have an app
that you can download to your phone or tablet so you can
stay connected throughout the week. Stay tuned for more
information about how to access the conference and app in
the coming weeks!
Volume 23 , No 2 Page 4
2020-2021 Candidate Introductions P
resid
en
t – E
lect
West
VP
-Ele
ct
Optometrist and Associate Professor at Southern College of Optometry
Member of TPHA since 2012
Upon receiving his OD degree from Illinois
College of Optometry, he spent 23 years with the United States Navy. He has served as the
Chairperson of the TPHA Vision Care Section, Chairperson of the TPHA Constitution and
Bylaws Committee, and as a TPHA West Tennessee Board of Director’s Representative.
Wendelyn Inman, PhD
Interim Master in Public Health Program Director at Tennessee State University Member of TPHA since 2019
Dr. Inman is an intervention expert who works with the faith-based community for projects directly addressing health disparities, health communications strategies, community engagement and planning development. Her general interest is in reducing health disparities in vulnerable populations such as veterans of the armed forces, rural and underserved populations, and minority communities. She served on a national level as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on HIV/AIDS and to the U.S. Census Bureau on race and ethnicity.
Christian Williams, DrPH, MPH
Assistant Professor and Director of the Bachelor of Science in Public Health Program at Belmont University
Member of TPHA since 2009
As TPHA President, Christian wants to build upon
the strong foundation that past leadership has laid
and strive to: continue strengthening the link
between academia and practice through consistent
collaboration; expand opportunities for
professional development and continuing
education to all members throughout the year (not
just at the annual conference); offer more member
networking events; and increase member
engagement through strengthened communication.
Rick Savoy, OD, MPH Emily Rushing, MPH
Health Department Director for the Henderson, Carroll, and Chester Counties
Member of TPHA since 2014
Prior to becoming a county director, Emily served as the Assessment and Planning Coordinator for the West Region and as a Public Health Educator in Henderson County. During this time she has held the positions of West Tennessee Board Representative and Awards Committee Chair, as well as serving as a member of several other committees.
Assistant Public Health County Director for the Rutherford County Health Department
Member of TPHA since 2012
She has served as Resolutions Committee Chair and Health Education Section Chair. LaShan is committed to protecting, promoting, and improving the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee by exercising leadership in health policy, increasing awareness of public health issues, and strengthening the development of public health professionals and will continue to be a valuable contributor to the progress and success of this organization. M
iddle
VP
-Ele
ct
Assistant Professor of Health Education and Health Promotion in the department of Human Performance and Sports Sciences at Tennessee State University
Member of TPHA since 2011
She is the immediate past Chair of the Public Health Academics Section and has truly enjoyed
being part of that Section’s executive team. Additionally, she currently serves as the Research Committee (Research Poster) Chair for the
Annual Conference Planning Committee. These various roles have made her a voting member of
TPHA’s Board for the past three years.
Poliala Dickson, PhD, MS LaShan Dixon, MPH
TPHA Quarterly Page 5
Association News and Announcements
TPHA is accepting nominations for its 2020 Awards. Deadline to submit is August 19, 2020. For more information
and to submit a nomination, click here.
TPHA’s Virtual Grand Division Meeting 2020 was a great success! More than 75 individuals joined us for our
inaugural webinar series. We hope to offer a variety of timely topics ongoing throughout the year to give our members
more ready access to continuing education opportunities. Recordings of the webinars are available here.
TPHA joined 350 organizations urging HHS Secretary Azar to “speak up” and be an advocate for the CDC and
public health. Read the full letter here.
TPHA member Patti Scott, DNP, RN, PNP, NCSN, and Judith Katzburg, PhD, and Linda Degutis, DrPH, with input
from the APHA Intersectional Council Gun Violence Prevention Workgroup contributed to a blog in the Public
Health Newswire about limiting access to firearms to decrease suicide risk. Click here for the article.
Middle Tennessee Board Representative
Sherrie Booker Health Department Director for Dickson and Humphreys Counties, Member of TPHA since 2015
Sherrie has been a part of her community landscape well over twenty-five years as a partner and leader with local civil society organizations. She is a firm believer that one person can make a difference and throughout her career in the private and public sector that has been her mission. She has been with the Tennessee Department of Health since May 2015, where she serves as the County Director overseeing three Public Health Clinics in Dickson and Humphreys counties. Prior to her position with the Tennessee Department of Health she was employed by the Dickson County Board of Education where she was hired in 2007 to serve as the Coordinator of School Health.
Joanne Perley, MPH Project Manager of Suicide Prevention at the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Member of TPHA since 2020
Joanne oversees the eight State and Federal suicide
prevention programs statewide. Joanne previously worked
at the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network where she
worked as West TN Regional Director, Middle TN
Regional Director, and Statewide Initiatives Director. A
Tennessee native, Joanne is an alumna of the University of
Alabama at Birmingham where she obtained a Master’s in
Public Health with a primary focus on health behavior and
this approach to suicide prevention. She is certified in a
variety of suicide and mental health curricula including
QPR, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills, Adverse
Childhood Experiences, and Youth Mental Health First Aid.
Tammy Mansfield, BSN Assistant Director of Nursing for the Tennessee Department of Health, Member of TPHA since 2002
Tammy began her public health career as a clinic nurse at the Sumner County Health Department in 2002. She has held various positions in the Mid Cumberland Regional office including Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Coordinator, Family Planning Administrator, Robertson County Nursing supervisor, and Quality Improvement Director. Tammy has been a member of TPHA since 2003. She has served on numerous TPHA committees including Registration, Silent Auction, Fun & Fitness and chair of Continuing Education and 2016 Middle TN Vice President. Tammy is also very active in the nursing section of TPHA. She served as Nursing Section Chair in 2009 and has served as treasurer for several years.
Piper Hammond, FNP Registered Nurse, Member of TPHA since 2020
Piper Hammond is new to working in the world of public
health, but it is an area that she has always been interested
in and since beginning, her interest has only grown. Piper
started with the Sumner County Health Department in
February of 2020 and immediately grew interested in the
several aspects of public health and the areas where we
are able to serve. She is excited to be part of such a pivotal
organization during this very changing time in healthcare
and hopes to serve in order to assist our public health
workers in navigating these changes in our role.
Volume 23 , No 2 Page 6
2020 Visionary Award Winner for East Tennessee, Teresa Thayer
T he Tennessee Public Health Association congratulates Teresa Thayer, this year’s
recipient of its Visionary Award for East Tennessee. Teresa was nominated by TPHA member Dana Kembel. eresa has served the State of Tennessee for over 36 years and currently works as an Advanced Practice Nurse for the Tennessee Department of Health at the Blount County Health Department. Teresa’s desire to improve her patients’ quality of life led her to find a solution for those with Hepatitis C who are uninsured and could not afford treatment. In 2016, she worked with Dr. Deborah Allen to develop a treatment plan for individuals with Hepatitis C who would have otherwise fallen through the cracks of the health care system. Her program has now expanded to all four of the primary
care health departments in the East Region. Teresa’s efforts have cured over 200 uninsured patients with HCV, preventing HCV from progressing to chronic liver problems, failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. These individuals now experience a much better quality of life than they would have without Teresa’s care.
Teresa is an avid bicyclist and camper. She is also an accomplished seamstress who uses her talents to give to others even more. She makes quilts for fundraisers in support of breast cancer survivors and seasonal matching lab coats for the primary care staff. Teresa Thayer was chosen as the 2020 Visionary Award recipient for East Tennessee because of her unfailing example of loving care for her patients, the staff she works with daily, and her community.
T ennessee Public Health Association congratulates Billy Brown as this year’s recipient of its Visionary Award for West Tennessee. Billy was nominated by
TPHA member Beth Hamilton.
Two years ago, retired business executive Billy Brown had a vision to develop a center for victims of drug, alcohol and physical abuse in one of the most economically distressed counties in Tennessee. This center would provide practical assistance, counseling and worship opportunities for those who did not feel comfortable in a “church” setting. Today, that center exists thanks to Billy who donated the use of his building and personally financed its renovations. The McNairy Family Center is now a hub of resources for assistance and ministry. In less than two years, Billy has brought together community partners including the First Baptist Church, Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, Mid-South Food Bank Giveaways, the Community Health Council, the Community Advisory Board, Rotary Club, Juvenile Court Youth Vaping Offenders Class, the Department of Children Services and University of Tennessee Family and Community Education (FCE) Club McNairy County among others to set a course for positive growth and change in McNairy County. Community partners work together in the “movement” to strengthen families and address the county’s health priorities of Substance/Nicotine Abuse, Mental Health, Adverse Childhood Experiences and opportunities for Physical Activity.
The Mission of the McNairy Family Center is to break multi
-generational cycles of child abuse, neglect and trauma. Center director Billy Brown and community partners achieve this mission through Sunday morning worship
services, hosting community meetings
and direct service programming at the center, organizing
donation drives for families in need, and collaborative grant-
funded projects. Notable among the Center’s
achievements are efforts to re-establish the county
prevention coalition that had been inactive for years.
The new McNairy Substance Abuse
Alliance (MSAA) has Officers, By-Laws, Vision and Mission Statements and meets monthly. In November 2019, members sponsored a
Hidden in Plain Sight presentation and Narcan training. During 2020, the local alliance plans to sponsor county-wide Hidden in Plain Sight presentations, Suicide
Prevention and Narcan trainings. Billy holds the Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Instructor certification from the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth and
serves on the West Tennessee ACEs Acknowledgement Committee. He regularly gives Building Strong Brains presentations in school, church and community settings.
2020 Visionary Award Winner for West Tennessee, Billy Brown
2020 Visionary Award Winner for Middle Tennessee, Dr. William Noah
T he Tennessee Public Health Association congratulates its 2020 Visionary Award recipient, William Noah, MD. Dr. Noah was nominated by
TPHA member Cynthia Chafin, pictured together below.
Dr. Noah, an internal medicine and board-certified sleep medicine practitioner, not only is an incredible physician, but is a true visionary with a heart for the underserved. He offers direct care to the underserved in Rutherford County through his medical practice and recently launched a telemedicine program in multiple rural Tennessee counties. Additionally, through his efforts and forward thinking, Dr. Noah’s vision of creating a research consortium to identify ways to promote better health through better sleep is being realized and making tremendous contributions to the future of medicine for underserved populations.
It is well-documented that poor sleep is connected to poor health and that medical conditions that can result from or be worsened by poor sleep include coronary artery disease, heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, anxiety, and many others – those same issues that those of us in public health spend tremendous time, effort, and dollars on to address. In 2017 Dr. Noah and his team co-founded the MTSU Sleep Research Consortium (SRC) to facilitate research projects, community-based programs, and initiatives that promote population health and individual wellness through healthy sleep and sleep-related chronic disease prevention and reduction. The SRC is the vehicle through which Dr. Noah conducts research that benefits all Tennesseans. Dr. Noah led the SRC’s first study that examined the CPAP usage of over 4,000 patients for compliance and for which inequities were identified that may have national impact for the underserved Medicare/Medicaid population, those who typically have the least resources. CPAP machines – continuous positive airway pressure – help people breathe more easily and regularly while they are sleeping and work best when they are used properly and with counseling and ongoing follow-up. Better CPAP compliance leads to more favorable health outcomes for the patient. One aim of Dr. Noah’s research was to determine if patients who received follow-up care from a health care professional were more compliant in their prescribed CPAP usage than those who
received follow-up care from medical equipment providers (CPAP equipment providers). This is important because for those on Medicare or Medicaid, they will only have their necessary equipment and follow-up covered if it is provided by a CPAP equipment provider. Dr. Noah’s study found that those receiving follow-up from a CPAP provider had less favorable rates of compliance than those receiving follow-up from a healthcare professional (32% adherent vs. 50% at one year), which may translate into poorer health outcomes that extend well beyond sleep. These findings have the potential to change federal policy, which may lead to better health outcomes of millions who are served by Medicare or Medicaid. Dr. Noah’s vision of creating this research consortium in part to identify opportunities to impact the underserved, is paving the way for more equitable coverage for those seeking help with sleep disorders regardless of their income or insurance and has the potential for national impact.
TPHA Quarterly Page 7
William Noah, MD. and TPHA member Cynthia Chafin
Please join the Tennessee Public
Health Association for a Student
Networking Reception! This
reception provides an
opportunity for public health
students to interact with both
academic and practicing public
health leaders across Tennessee. Register Here
