WASHINGTON (Nov. 6, 2017) — Leaders from across Washington, D.C. came together to attend the 5th annual George Washington University (GW) Rodham Institute Summit to discuss health equity in the District. Those on the front lines of making quality, compassionate health care accessible to all had the opportunity to hear from Secretary Clinton on this year’s theme, “Building and Strengthening Resilience in the Community.”
“What can we do to help more people overcome their challenges?” said Secretary Clinton. “Everyone has something in their lives that knocks them down. How do we help them get back up?”
In a discussion with Jehan ‘Gigi’ El-Bayoumi, MD, founding director of the GW Rodham Institute and associate professor of medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Clinton also discussed the importance of resilience.
The event, held at THEARC in southeast D.C., featured speakers Reverend Kendrick E. Curry, PhD, MDiv, senior pastor at the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church; Almeta Keys, executive director of the Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center; Ruth Watson Lubic, CNM, EdD, founder and president emerita of Developing Families Center, Inc.; Calvin Smith, chair of the Ward 8 Health Council; and Reverend Deborah K. Webb, MDiv, founder and CEO of DKWebb Ministries. The summit also included a poster presentation and celebrated filmmakers who created videos related to the summit’s theme.
The GW Rodham Institute, housed within the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, seeks to apply the transformative power of education to help future and current health care providers achieve health equity in D.C. It works in the following priority areas:
- To nurture at-risk youth and promote careers and opportunities in health care to create a future health care system led by dedicated, equity-aware professionals
- To train current and future health professionals in applied health equity
- To collaborate with the community locally and nationally to support and enhance the work already being done to create greater access to health care
“Building and strengthening resilience in our communities is so important,” said El-Bayoumi. “Working with our incredible community partners, as we had the opportunity to do in today’s summit, is critical to making an impact.”
The GW Rodham Institute Summit was sponsored by The GW Medical Faculty Associates, the GW Hospital, AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, Kaiser Permanente, the City First Bank in Washington, D.C., and UnitedHealthcare Community and State.
