The date is set! Please reserve October 5, 2017 from 6:00-9:00pm for the 12th Annual Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund Dinner supporting the Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fellows Program. This premier event convenes health professionals and stakeholders from across North Carolina to network and learn from one another and to celebrate and honor past, present, and future contributions in our state’s health sector. To learn more about the event, click here.
Susan Martin has always been passionate about children’s health. A strong believer that no child should be left without access to care, she has opened both her heart and home to the issue. She spends the majority of her time volunteering for organizations, sitting on various committees and boards, and has previously served with her late husband as a foster parent for newborns with special needs.
“I’m just a normal person who has a strong faith, believes in family and that good health is just our human right,” Susan tells us. “I believe we have a responsibility to a fellow man, woman or child, to give them the opportunity to live a healthy productive life.”
This past October, at the 11th Annual Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Dinner, the Foundation received a generous donation from Susan to support the Bernstein Fellows program. We are extremely grateful for her contribution that will help to support the work being done to advance community health in North Carolina.
What first brought the Fellows program to Susan’s attention was Dr. Steve North, a previous Bernstein Fellow and current Foundation board member. Also passionate about children’s health, Dr. North used his fellowship to develop the Health-e-Schools school-based telemedicine program. He has continued work with this program as the founder of the Center for Rural Health Innovation, an organization focused on applying innovative technologies to improve access to health care in rural communities.
[box] “I have a great deal of admiration for Steve North,” Susan said. “Knowing his story, I wanted to get a better understanding of the other people involved.” [/box]
Impressed by what she learned about other Fellows and their projects, Susan decided to give the program more support. “I really like all the things I’ve read about,” she reflects. “The work they’re doing just makes sense, especially for our rural areas.”
To learn more about the Bernstein Fellows program, click here.
A big thank you to everyone who helped make the 11th Annual Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund Dinner a success! The event convened a record total of 338 of the state’s health and community leaders to celebrate the Bernstein Fellows and honor the legacy of the Foundation’s founder, Jim Bernstein.
We’re excited to report that this year’s dinner generated approximately $55,000 for the Fellows program. For a list of donors click here.
We would like to thank those who participated in our second annual pledge drive during the event. These donations helped us earn over $7,000 for the Fellows program. A special thanks to our pledge drive sponsor, Mission Health, for contributing an additional $2,500 match, for a total of $9,500. For a list of all our pledge drive donors click here.
[box] The Jim Bernstein Community Health Fellowship is a two-year leadership training program that supports emerging health advocates in rural and underserved areas in North Carolina. The purpose of the Fellows program is to foster strong leadership and enable collaboration. [/box]
Through the generosity of our sponsors who purchased mentor tickets, we were also able to include 40 students from UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Campbell University and East Carolina University at this year’s event. The mentor tickets reflect our commitment to fostering young health leaders. For a list of sponsors click here.
Prior to the dinner, the Future Leaders Reception welcomed over 50 guests with the purpose of creating an intentional networking opportunity among our state’s established, rising, and future health leaders. Guests included: current and past Bernstein Fellows, current and past Dinner award recipients, mentor ticket recipients and donors, the members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and additional special guests.
Following this, all guests were invited to our dinner reception, where they could mix and mingle with other guests while enjoying snacks and drinks prior to the dinner. Another special thanks to our Future Leaders Reception sponsor, UNC Healthcare, and our dinner reception sponsors: Access East, Vidant Health, and East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine.
After the reception, guests gathered into the dining room for the lecture & awards ceremony. This year, our guest speaker was Marcia K. Brand, Senior Advisor to the Dentaquest Foundation and the Executive Director of the National Interprofessional Initiative on Oral Health. Marcia gave a great lecture on rural health improvements and the road ahead.
We also gave out two awards this year: the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation Community Achievement Award and the Jim Bernstein Community Health Career Achievement Award.
Robin Tutor Marcom, EdD, MPH, OTR/L, was awarded the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation Community Achievement Award, honoring her work as the Director of the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute, an inter-institutional partnership of East Carolina University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and North Carolina State University that promotes the health and safety of farmers, fishermen, foresters, their workers and their families.
Leah Devlin, DDS, MPH, a Visiting Professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and consultant for Research Triangle Institute, International, was awarded the Jim Bernstein Community Health Career Achievement Award, honoring her for more than 30 years of work in public health practice.
Overall, we are grateful for the continued support from our partners in making this event exceptional every year. Be on the lookout for the date for next year’s dinner soon!
Visionary Level Supporters ($2,500+)
Pioneer Level Supporter ($1,250-$2,499)
Innovator Level Supporter ($500-$1,249)
Developer Level Supporter ($250-$499)
Sustainer Level Supporter ($25-$249)
The date is set! Please reserve October 6, 2016 from 6:00-9:00pm for the 11th Annual Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund Dinner supporting the Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fellows Program. This premier event convenes health professionals and stakeholders from across North Carolina to network and learn from one another and to celebrate and honor past, present, and future contributions in our state’s health sector.
A warm thank you to everyone who made the 10th annual Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund Dinner a success. Due to the support of our friends and partners, we were able to raise over $55,000 for our Fellows program.
The Jim Bernstein Community Health Fellowship is a two-year leadership training program that supports emerging health advocates in rural and underserved areas in North Carolina. The purpose of the Fellows program is to foster strong leadership and enable collaboration.
The dinner, sponsored by Mission Health, convened 325 of the state’s health and community leaders to celebrate the five graduating Bernstein Fellows and honor the legacy of the Foundation’s founder, Jim Bernstein.
We’d like to recognize retiring program Director, John H. Frank, for his leadership in the program since 2010. During his time as Director, he strengthened the curriculum, increased the number of programmatic partnerships, and guided thirteen Fellows through completion of the fellowship. The Foundation is extremely fortunate and grateful for John’s leadership and dedication to the Fellows Program.
This year, Gene Cochrane, President of the Duke Endowment, was the recipient of the Career Achievement Award, a testament to his many years of engaging with community health issues.
Ron Gaskins, a former Bernstein Fellow, was awarded the Distinguished Fellow Award, honoring his work as the Executive Director of Access East Inc., a not-for-profit organization that strives to increase access to care for underserved populations across Eastern North Carolina.
Through the generosity of our sponsors who purchased mentor tickets, we included 39 students from UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke University, Campbell University and East Carolina University at this year’s dinner. The mentor tickets reflect our commitment to fostering young health leaders.
We are grateful for the continued support from our partners in making this event special every year. Save the date for next year’s dinner on October 6, 2016!
The 9th Annual Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund Dinner & Lecture took place on Thursday, October 9th, in Chapel Hill, NC.
Over 300 health professionals from all over the state came together for an evening of food and conversation, and to honor the Bernstein Fellows graduating class and the Career Achievement Award Recipient.
The keynote speaker was Jonathan Oberlander, PhD, who spoke about the Affordable Care Act and its impact on populations in North Carolina and around the country.
Four Bernstein Fellows completed their fellowships earlier in the year and were presented with plaques by John Frank, director of the Bernstein Fellows Program.
The 2014 Fellows class included Melanie Batchelor, Allison Lipscomb, Peter Rives, and Tim Smith.
The 2014 Career Achievement Award was awarded to Thomas Bacon, PhD, retired director of NC AHEC. Dr. Bacon was presented the award for his years of service and dedication to preparing health care leaders to serve rural areas in North Carolina, and gave words of thanks for the continued work being done.
Every year, we have the opportunity to recognize leadership excellence at the Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fund Dinner & Lecture. It never ceases to amaze me how enthusiastic, joyful and energetic this event is each year. Three hundred people fill the Friday Center’s Atrium with greetings to old and new friends. This will be the 9th year that people from all over the state come together in one place to celebrate, catch-up, and share news. People always ask us if we can simply hold the reception and forget about the dinner! It’s the one place, year after year, where people get recharged to do good and important work by spending time with so many of their friends and colleagues.
This year, Tom Bacon, DrPH, recently retired NC AHEC Director, will receive the Career Achievement Award and four Fellows who have completed their projects and two-year program will be recognized. It’s an evening of celebration and an opportunity to recognize Sue and Jim Bernstein and their “pay it forward” leadership style. The Fellowship and Scholarship were established to continue this tradition of community service and innovation.
Last year, John Price, retired Director of the NC Office of Rural Health and Community Care, visited each of the rural health centers eligible to receive scholarship funds for an employee or their dependent. As a result, this year the Foundation’s Bernstein Health Leadership Committee made a commitment to make each award in person. I had the opportunity to attend these meetings in seven communities across the state. Directors from the centers nominate an employee or an employee’s dependent, and two of the centers represented this year had never applied before. We were overjoyed to receive their applications. In most of our visits, the entire center staff attended the presentation of the award, celebrating and sharing how these students were part of the larger rural health center family. As the awarded students begin their college careers, their academic interests include engineering, physical therapy, behavioral health, medicine, video arts and film, and sign language.
Reflecting on the Fellowship, Scholarships and upcoming Dinner, I recall one of the center directors describing how important those first visits with Jim Bernstein and Harvey Estes were to planning for the healthcare needs of the community. The centers continue their work with active community participation on their boards, volunteers and fundraising. These communities, employees and children embody the “pay it forward” expectation. The Bernstein Health Leadership Fellowship and Scholarship are meant to act as catalysts for this way of thinking and most importantly, doing! Even though Jim has been gone for nine years, honoring this way of living will continue to make the greatest difference.
-Maggie Sauer
CEO & President
Every year the North Carolina Foundation of Advanced Health Programs hosts a premiere event that brings together health leaders from all over the state of North Carolina for an evening of dining and networking. Up to 300 health professionals attend this event that honors the work of Jim Bernstein and supports the Jim Bernstein Health Leadership Fellows program.
This year’s event will feature Jonathan Oberlander as the keynote speaker, and Tom Bacon as the recipient of the 2014 Career Achievement Award.
Please join us for this exciting event, which includes a reception and dinner/lecture at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, NC on the evening of October 9th, 2014.