Upcoming events focus on health-care disparities

Two events focused on disparities in health care will be held on the Washington University Medical Campus — a symposium Saturday, June 15, and a fast-paced “Ignite” event July 11.

The St. Louis chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives will present a free symposium titled “Health Disparities, A Discussion of Challenges and Opportunities for the St. Louis Region” from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 15.

The event will be in the Holden Auditorium at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center, 520 S. Euclid Ave., on the Medical Campus. To register, email nahsestl@gmail.com.

Speakers and panelists will include: Missouri Reps. Sue Allen and Kimberly Gardner; David Campbell, MD, a physician in St. Louis County; Melody Goodman, DSc, an assistant professor of surgery at the School of Medicine; Bethany Johnson-Javois, of the St. Louis Integrated Health Network; Brian Phillips, of Washington University Medical Center; and Jason Purnell, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School and faculty scholar in the Institute for Public Health.

The “Ignite” event will be presented by the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Center for Diversity and Cultural Competence (CDCC) from 4-6 p.m. July 11 in Queeny Tower Conference Room C. Reservations must be made at www.BarnesJewish.org/ignite by July 8.

The event is intended to generate ideas for solving health-care disparities and to build a critical mass of change agents who will work to eliminate health disparities. Presenters will explore topics such as health literacy, access to health care, immigrant populations, social determinants of health and disparities in LGBT communities.

Ignite events feature a series of brief, rapid-paced presentations covering a wide array of topics, followed by time for networking and discussion. This event will feature nine presentations, each five minutes long.

Scheduled presenters are: Johnson-Javois; Ryan Barker, vice president of health policy at the Missouri Foundation for Health; Nathan Moore, a student at the School of Medicine and co-author of The Health Care Handbook; Elna Nagasako, MD, PhD, an instructor in medicine at the School of Medicine; Barbara Bogomolov, a registered nurse, director of the CDCC and manager of Refugee Health and Interpreter Services; Vetta Sanders Thompson, PhD, associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University; Kathryn Plax, MD, medical director at The Spot and associate professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine; Steven Player, pharmacy manager of diversity and recruitment at BJH and co-founder and co-director of the BJH/Express Scripts/St. Louis College of Pharmacy (BESt) Pharmacy Summer Institute; Kristin Daly, nurse educator/coordinator for oncology services at BJH and Siteman Cancer Center; and Michael Ward, PhD, vice dean for student affairs and diversity at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.