Department of Community Health Featured on TV

The meaningful work of St. Luke University Health Network’s (SLUHN) Department of Community Health will be featured on an upcoming episode of WFMZ Channel 69’s Health Now program. The episode will air at 6:30 pm on April 7.

Two videos will air as part of the show. The first video, St. Luke’s Linguistic & Cultural Workforce Development Centers, will demonstrate how St. Luke’s Department of Community Health works with community partners to provide English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, skills-based trainings and employment services to residents of the Lehigh Valley. Community partners include the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley, Northampton Community College, Lehigh Carbon Community College and The Literacy Center.

The second video will focus on the work undertaken to teach residents of the community to manage and treat two common chronic conditions, diabetes and hypertension. It is titled, Chronic Disease, Managing and Treating Diabetes and Hypertension. 

Two SLUHN panelists will participate in the Health Now program: Rajika Reed, PhD, MPH, M.Ed, SLUHN Vice President, Department of Community Health, and Victoria Montero, MPH, SLUHN Network Director of Community Workforce Development, Department of Community Health. With more than 25 years of experience in public health, Dr. Reed oversees community health strategy and initiatives throughout the 15-campus Network. She assesses the needs of the community and collaborates with national, state and local partners to improve health outcomes in the Greater Lehigh Valley. In Montero’s role as Network Director of Community Workforce Development, she collaborates with community partners to help underserved residents gain access to health care job training and ESL courses, improving their employment opportunities and access to stable, well-paying jobs. She is dedicated to health equity and oversees the Linguistic and Cultural Workforce Development Centers in Allentown and Bethlehem.

The Linguistic & Cultural Workforce Development Center video also was chosen as an entrant in the Allentown Film Festival. It will be shown at the Allentown Art Museum at noon on Saturday, April 12, as part of the festival.

About St Luke’s Department of Community Health

SLUHN’s Department of Community Health was founded in 1996 in an effort to establish an effective and sustainable way to support the needs of communities served by SLUHN. Since then, the department has grown and evolved to become a leader in promoting health for the most vulnerable communities across the region. Its mission is to create pathways for equity toward measurable health outcomes through advocacy, access, and navigation of resources for partners and underserved communities. It envisions a community where everyone has access to exceptional health care built on a foundation of trust and compassion.

The current strategic plan (fiscal year 2024-2025) was developed as a roadmap to prioritize efforts focused on the specific needs within the communities it serves. Community Health Liaisons serve every campus community to ensure that meaningful and sustainable partnerships are developed at the local level. This provides the capacity and infrastructure needed to ensure that pathways toward equity and measurable health outcomes can be realized.

The department oversees the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), which is conducted internally every three years as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The top priorities outlined in the CHNA and the implementation strategy serve as a guide to support strategic initiatives through the pillars of Prevention and Wellness, Care Transformation, and Research and Partnerships.

For more information, visit: https://www.sluhn.org/community-health.