HJNO Jul/Aug 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  JUL / AUG 2020 31 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalNO.com Dr. Courtney N. Phillips Joins Louisiana Department of Health as Secretary Dr. Courtney N. Phillips has joined the Louisiana Department of Health as the secretary. Phillips most recently served as executive commissioner of Texas Health and Human Services (HHS) where she was committed to improving the health, safety, and well-being for millions of Texans. She was responsible for more than 40,000 team mem- bers, a $78.5 billion biennium budget, and more than 220 programs ranging from healthcare, food safety, and benefits to public health tracking and regulation of childcare, nursing, and healthcare facilities. Under her leadership, Texas HHS developed its inaugural business plan, Blueprint for a Healthy Texas. The agency continued to transform inpa- tient psychiatric care through the construction and renovation of state hospitals across Texas; expanded its newborn screenings; eliminated the waitlist for outpatient mental health treat- ment through local mental health authorities; and improved access to women’s health and family planning services in Texas, including a 30 percent increase in the number of women served in the Healthy Texas Women program. Before joining Texas HHS, Phillips served for three years as the chief executive officer of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and spent 12 years with the Louisiana Department of Health in a variety of roles. Phillips earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiol- ogy and a Master of Public Administration from Louisiana State University, and a PhD in public policy from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. She continued honing her process improve- ment skills by earning an Executive Green Belt in Lean Six Sigma. Louisiana Healthcare Connections, LSU AgCenter Produce Videos on Stretching Food Dollars Louisiana Healthcare Connections, a Healthy Louisiana Medicaid health plan, and the Lou- isiana State University Agriculture Center (LSU AgCenter) have partnered in the production of a series of videos to educate Medicaid enrollees and resource-limited families in the purchase, planning, and preparation of healthy, budget- friendly meals. The video series, called Build A Healthy Meal , features LSU AgCenter Extension Agents from across the state delivering cooking lessons and demonstrations on topics such as food dollar management, making healthy meals from dollar store purchases and fresh produce preparation. Video titles include: • Cook Once, Eat Twice! : How to cook once and eat twice to maximize time and buying power. • Dollar Store Meals : How to make healthful, low-cost meals with ingredients that can be purchased at “dollar stores” • Cook With Produce From The Farmer’s Mar- ket : How to prepare healthy meals using fresh produce Additional videos are currently in development and will provide education about creating healthy, well-rounded meals with commodity items and fresh produce. “Building a healthy meal will aid the every- day consumer over time to change behavior, which leads to healthy decisions about food,” said Dr. Gina Eubanks, LSU AgCenter associate vice president for food and consumer sciences. “Research supports that healthy eating helps to reduce chronic disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cardiovas- cular disease.” The Build A Healthy Meal videos are available via the LSU AgCenter website, YouTube chan- nel, and social media platforms, including Face- book, Pinterest, and Instagram. Louisiana Health- care Connections is also sharing the videos via its Facebook page and promoting them as a resource for physicians working to address hun- ger and food insecurity at the point of care. The project brings together LSU AgCenter and Louisiana Healthcare Connections with the shared goal of increasing nutritional education and healthy food access among Medicaid-enrolled and resource-limited populations in the state. Both organizations have identified food insecu- rity, defined by the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture (USDA) as “a lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life,” as a key factor that negatively affects the health of Louisiana families. In its December 2018 “U.S. Hunger Atlas,” Hunger Free America found that nearly 25 per- cent of all children in Louisiana lived in house- holds that could not always afford food from 2015-2017, and with 847,556 food insecure indi- viduals, the state ranked as the third most food insecure in the nation. “Food insecurity affects thousands of families across our state, and because so many in Louisi- ana are struggling with losses of income due to COVID-19, it is a particularly critical issue right now,” said John Kight, senior vice president of population health for Louisiana Healthcare Con- nections. “We are pleased to work with the LSU AgCenter to provide these families with budget- friendly nutritional information to help them over- come barriers that may negatively impact their health.” To view the videos, visit www.LSUAgCenter.com/ topics/food_health/food/build-a-healthy-meal. LWCC Announces the Launch of the LWCC Foundation LWCC announced the formation of a private foundation which will focus on the areas of health, wellness, and safety in the workplace, and its lead- ing initiative, Louisiana Well Again, will include a $1.1 million, three-phased response package to help Louisiana respond to and recover from COVID-19. LWCC piloted an initiative called Safe Schools in two Louisiana school districts and after finding initial success, formed the foundation to scale this program and support additional initiatives elevat- ing Louisiana. In late 2019, funding for the foundation was provided by an initial endowment from the LWCC Board of Directors. The LWCC Founda- tion defined its vision—to make Louisiana home to the healthiest and safest workforce in Amer- ica—and its mission—to inspire and create trans- formational change in Louisiana businesses and workers. The foundation quickly realized that playing a role in the fight against COVID-19 is filling an immediate need and aligned with the organiza- tion’s purpose, vision, and mission. Therefore, resources have been repurposed to help allevi- ate the impact of COVID-19 on Louisiana citizens. “History has shown that Louisiana is filled with optimistic and resilient people, but they need