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Business Journals
01-08-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
Table of Experts: The future of health care
Hiring continues to trouble area health care providers Though insufficient payment, rising costs and political uncertainty vex Western New York's health care industry, finding and keeping clinicians and staff has remained at the top of their challenges since the pandemic. Industry leaders joined Buffalo Business First Publisher John Tebeau to discuss how they manage to go about their missions to serve the public amid the obstacles. Ultimately, greater collaboration and conversation could be essential to their futures. Joining Tebeau were: Melissa Farrell, COO, Spectrum Health & Human Services, 25 years in the mental health field Raymond Ganoe, president and CEO, Evergreen Health, 30 years in health care James Garvey, executive vice president and COO, Catholic Health, appointed in 2020 after serving in health care markets in the Midwest Dr. Robert Zielinski, oncologist and associate medical director, Buffalo Medical Group, 34th year in practice ATTRACTING WORKERS Health care in general is struggling with staffing and working toward a solution that will get qualified people on the job. The situation became especially critical post-Covid when many baby boomers left the workforce. There was an erosion of talent right across the board but especially in clinical areas, Garvey said, and that left a chasm in the workplace. 'You bring in all these new people, and they don't have those experiences, and you don't have that senior person who could provide that oversight,' Garvey said. In addition to doubling down on recruiting initiatives, the Catholic Health system recognized the need to aggressively move toward further development of leadership. One such program involves identifying early leaders in mid-level careers and assigning them to a sponsor who will work with them toward a leadership goal, Garvey said. The panelists agreed that the mission of an organization is increasingly important in the hiring process. 'You end up having happier employees that stay longer and are more engaged with the direction that the organization is going,' Ganoe said. 'We are bringing a lot of energy into our culture to make sure that we're picking the right people.' To do that, recruitment needs to happen at area colleges and universities where students are informed of the varied organizations in the Buffalo region, he said. The big hospital systems might be an obvious choice for some but given the array of options and their unique missions, students might be turned on to and find a better fit with other types of providers. It is critical to ask the right questions during the interview to make sure the job candidate is aware of what your mission is and those things that are important for your organization. 'They have to pick you, and you have to pick them,' Ganoe said. Evergreen provides primary care, pharmacy services and mental health care that grew out of the world of HIV and AIDS as those conditions became more treatable. The focus expanded to include populations that have been historically disenfranchised in Western New York, Ganoe said. Evergreen is a $135 million organization employing more than 600. One of the reasons why the culture phenomenon is important, Zielinski said, is a generational shift in the approach to work. The Buffalo Medical Group traditionally operated under a production model, where individuals are given the flexibility to work as much or as little as they want and be paid a salary commensurate to what is produced. There are fewer and fewer who embrace high productivity, he said. Greater numbers of physicians and staff are burning out because that is not how they want to practice, Zielinski said. The practitioners in their 40s and established in their careers are less concerned with the salary differences between working for the medical group and positions at hospitals, Zielinski said. They find greater job satisfaction with the schedule of the medical group: no weekends, overnights or holidays. Not so with younger entrants into the field, who will leave one job for another over 50-cents an hour, Zielinski said. What truly frustrates Zielinski, he said, are the job candidates who are hired and given a start date but don't show up and don't respond to further communication. They are never heard from again. 'Presumably they've got a number of lines in the water, and they got a better nibble somewhere else, but they don't have that sense that they might interact with this place someday. We're a small community,' Zielinski said. It is a similar situation at Spectrum Health with job candidates 'ghosting' their offers, staff being lured to other jobs for a few cents more an hour or leaving after achieving a full license from permit status, Farrell said. The organization's leaders try to impress on staff that while pay rates may be higher at other practices, she said, Spectrum offers benefits that amount to 30% more income such as malpractice insurance, health insurance and a 401(k) and it handles all billing. 'The greatest resource and capital is our people,' Farrell said, 'so that is where we invest to the best of our ability, to help people want to stay with us. When we have turnover, we lose our client population. If you have a therapist you trust, and they leave, you leave, too.' Spectrum Health estimated that when a single clinician leaves, the organization loses tens of thousands of dollars in lost clients and the amount it costs to hire a replacement and the months it takes to train that person, Farrell said. REIMBURSEMENT When health care leaders talk about reimbursement, it is never good news. For example, health care organizations that are heavily invested in physical plants and equipment are challenged by the anticipated cost of maintenance and replacement and the prospect of purchasing the newest technology and new business opportunities, Garvey said. None of it is inexpensive. Another example: To accept various insurances, providers are faced with additional infrastructure costs, because each insurance company has its own set of rules and processes involved. Those costs to the providers are unreimbursed. 'The priority is about patient care and safety,' Garvey said. 'Unfortunately the marketplace here in New York is a very challenging market from the reimbursement perspective.' Buffalo Medical Group had adopted the electronic medical record system known as Epic prior to the pandemic, but Covid forced the evolution of it. Zielinski bemoaned the government's lack of commitment to reimburse its use. He has little confidence in the reimbursement system, calling it 'badly broken.' 'Health care is the only industry out there where the insurance companies control the production. You don't have the people who insure buildings and property dictating construction and automobile building,' he said. 'What our reimbursement system pays for is not remotely what providers or our patients would say is the most important thing to them.' The current system is unsustainable in part because of the 'enormous sums of money' going to pay the pharmaceutical companies. He said he believes that health insurance is getting so expensive that individuals and employers eventually will get priced out, which will lead the country to a government-run single-payer system. 'The reimbursement system is so broken that we need a major overhaul,' Zielinski said. 'I'm not sure if single-payer is the best answer, but I just worry that it's going to be what we fall to because pharma is going to bust the system.' POLITICAL CLIMATE The panelists shared the opinion that things are unlikely to improve amid the uncertainty, instability and lack of clarity being put forward in the current state and national political environment. There was realization in New York State that the healthcare system is broken, so the answer was to spend a lot of money on care, Ganoe said, but the best outcomes were elusive. There are way too many middlemen, and by the time the dollar goes through insurance, there's a nickel left for providers, he said. The move toward a value-based care system would incentivize providers to keep patients healthy. It would give the providers ownership and allow them to be innovative and think creatively about treatment and potentially make more money. 'It feels like now the goal posts have changed, and we're not really going there anymore but we don't know where we're going. So, organizations like ours that have a foot in a fee-for-service world and a foot in a value-based-payment world are now asking, 'What do we do?',' Ganoe said. 'The administrative oversight and energy it is taking to try to figure out where this is going should be put into recruiting, culture and taking care of our employees and our patients, but it is now being diverted toward crisis management. That doesn't help.' EMERGING TRENDS If there are positives that emerged from the pandemic it is the easing of the stigma associated with mental health issues and the awareness of the growing array of treatment services available to address them. That helped bridge the gap for some of those populations that are higher risk, Farrell said. Many of Spectrum Health's services, clients will find, have been embedded in doctors' offices and schools, Farrell said, making access especially convenient. 'You meet people where they're at, and that promotes success, that promotes linkage, and it promotes continuity of care. If you make it easy for people to get care, they're going to follow through,' Farrell said. Spectrum Health provides outpatient behavioral health services. The organization integrates mental health and substance use care for adults and children. In 2017, Spectrum Health piloted the comprehensive community behavioral healthcare center, a federal pilot project which integrated services, so clients didn't have to have more than one treatment provider, Farrell said. 'In the past if you had mental health needs but you were drinking, we would tell you we can't talk about your mental health until you stop drinking,' Farrell said. 'Then we would make them go and try and stop drinking, but when you don't take care of your mental health you drink to cope. The integration has really helped. It also focuses on holistic treatment so looking at social determinants of health, looking at housing, access to healthcare insurance, food security, those types of things.' Spectrum is expanding its services in the Allentown Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine office to include the addition of an entire floor and two more full-time clinicians. The organization, long embedded in the Williamsville high schools, is expanding services into the district's middle schools. Conversations are continuing with other districts as well, she said. 'We found in doing that is that kids have access to services and it eliminates the barriers of transportation,' Farrell said. 'If you ask a 16-year-old to carve out two hours of their week every week, it's pretty impossible to do. So they can come to us on their free period or during their lunch and get services right there. We also found that that helps to mitigate some the cultural barriers to seeking treatment.' Spectrum has addressed access to mental health services for clients living in rural areas through promoting telehealth sessions and in Wyoming County, a clinician is available for home visits for the aging population. The organization also has established peer counseling for adults, youth and parents offered by those who have lived experience with mental health care. 'When somebody approaches it and normalizes it and says 'I've been there. My child has gone through this too, and let me tell you what helped us', there's power in that, and so people are more willing to engage,' Farrell said. STRENGTH IN NUMBERS Given their shared challenges, the panelists said continued collaboration and conversation will serve to strengthen Western New York's health care market. All the region's organizations interact on a daily basis one way or another, and there are great examples of joint efforts among them, Garvey said. 'We struggle sometimes with that just because we get caught up in our own respective spaces,' he said. 'Everybody knows everybody so you can have that conversation. Just think about what you're doing the right way and start the dialogue. These conversations aren't threatening to an organization, they can challenge an organization.' THE EXPERTS: JAMES GARVEY, Executive Vice President and COO, Catholic Health DR. ROBERT ZIELINSKI, Associate Medical Director and Oncologist, Buffalo Medical Group Mobility clinic offers real hope to those suffering with paralysis expand Buffalo now offers the possibility of mobility to the paralyzed. A person who suffers catastrophic paralysis is usually discharged from the hospital after treatment for the initial injury with the unfortunate conclusion, 'There's only so much we can do.' For these patients there has been no local rehabilitative pathway to offer hope of experiencing movement like there are in Atlanta, Denver and elsewhere. If a patient doesn't have the financial resources to pay for further rehabilitation out of town, then the person endures other issues associated with lack of mobility, such as pressure sores, breathing problems, muscle atrophy and digestion issues. Those Western New Yorkers who have traveled to get the specialized rehabilitation, return and quickly lose the gains they've made because there is no supportive technology here. To serve this population in Western New York, Daemen University's Dr. Michael Brogan and Dr. Laura Edsberg developed the Institute for Mobility Innovation and Technology, known at the IMIT, located at the Villa Maria College Athletic Center in Buffalo through a partnership with the college. Among the specialized equipment at the IMIT are state-of-the-art robotically assisted machines that are used in gait training and movement. One of most expensive pieces of equipment, few exist across the country, this unit consists of a large track on the ceiling where a robot is attached with harnesses that hang down to support body weight while an individual is on a treadmill. 'The benefit of this is you can walk,' Edsberg said. 'The way our brain relearns is if you keep that pattern the same the neuroplasticity will help that gait come back. This is typically the piece of equipment people use immediately post injury to try and get walking again, even when you don't have sensation, in hopes that your brain starts to send the signals again.' As the patient improves, the role of robotics can be reduced so the patient can control more of the motion. Even if walking isn't fully restored, the patient can continue to train on the equipment to get the exercise needed to get muscles in motion and blood flowing to offset atrophy, encourage wound healing and decrease any painful muscle spasms. Another important piece of equipment is called an alter gravity treadmill where the patient is zipped into a special unit that fills with air and reduces gravitational load so the individual can build trunk stability and improve gait. Movement is primary; everything else follows. 'Physiological effects end up being the cause of someone's poor quality of life and death, so maintenance is a big part of this,' Brogan said. 'If you wanted to feel better you can go to a gym or you could walk around the park. Where do people who can't move go?' The IMIT was funded with $2 million foundation grants and $1.2 million from then state Senator Tim Kennedy for equipment. The foundation money also supports maintenance of the equipment. This type of rehabilitation can return the individual to a more functional, independent state and lead to a better quality of life potentially including a return to work, Brogan said. 'They may not be a mail carrier, but they could work at the post office doing any job inside the building,' Brogan said. It also cuts costs by reducing the number of clinicians needed to work one-on-one with the patient at a time. Brogan, executive vice president and provost at Daemen University and a career-long physical therapist, and Edsberg, professor of natural sciences and the director of the Center for Wound Healing Research, initially collaborated on research on refractory wounds, or those that won't heal. These wounds are typically suffered by those who are immobilized by paralysis through an accident or stroke or conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's. The IMIT was the evolutionary result of their work. Edsberg envisions advocacy as another important aspect of the IMIT. Insurance so far hasn't covered such rehabilitation. She expects to approach insurance companies with data from the IMIT hopeful that insurers will recognize not only the many patient benefits but the cost savings from decreased hospitalizations from complications from immobility. Research also will involve the most effective number of weekly visits to the IMIT for optimum results. The IMIT additionally provides Daemen students with the unique opportunity to work with the state-of-the art equipment. Daemen will also create opportunities for other schools to do neural placements at the IMIT program. 'Then when they go out to their jobs in their community, they will realize they should be advocating for this for their patients,' Edsberg said. 'I think this will put them ahead of other graduates.' THE EXPERTS: DR. MICHAEL BROGAN , Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost DR. LAURA EDSBERG, Co-founder and Co-Director of the Institute for Mobility Innovation & Technology (IMIT) D'Youville to bring more primary care doctors to WNY expand D'Youville University is months away from establishing the area's second academic training ground for primary care doctors. The institution is expected to welcome the first students into its College of Osteopathic Medicine a year from now. The program will further enhance D'Youville's array of health care programs that together align with a broader vision of transforming health care and health care education in Western New York, university President Dr. Lorrie Clemo said. Clemo said it is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the university. The $120 million price tag covers the purchasing of the building, renovations and hiring the faculty. The 285 Delaware Ave. location, a mile away from the university's main campus on Porter Avenue, is significant in that it will bring hundreds of medical students to the heart of downtown Buffalo. The first class of students will begin in the fall 2026 semester. Full enrollment of 720 is expected in six years. The health care sector is eagerly awaiting them. About 27,000 primary care doctors in New York State are expected to retire within the next five years. 'What our program is going to do is to train primary care physicians, but our intent is to try to keep them here,' Clemo said. 'We know specifically that 80% of the students that received the doctor of osteopathy degree stay in primary care.' Clemo said she came to D'Youville in 2017, attracted to coming to Buffalo and moving into the president's role because the university was well positioned as a healthcare education institution. 'In the last eight years we've been able to distinguish ourselves with the great programs that prepare our students for the new work that is evolving in higher education and in health care right now,' Clemo said. 'More importantly what I saw here was a community that cared about improving health care, and I saw that we would be able to be a part of that vision, that movement that started with the BNMC (Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus). We've become very connected to that.' Doctors of osteopathy differ from medical doctors in that they practice holistic medicine, disease prevention and alternative therapies. The university has forged more than 1,200 articulation agreements with primary care physicians and has 400 partners who have signed on to be part of the medical students' training in their third and fourth years. The partners are geographically diverse, from health centers and urban trauma centers in Buffalo to rural practices in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties. Clemo also is hopeful of forging collaborations with area institutions so their students who want medical education can come to D'Youville without having to repeat courses. The program is primarily recruiting local students, but expectations are it will be attractive to those students outside of Western New York and New York state, Clemo said. 'Our intent is to keep students here after they graduate because they'll be connected with the great caregivers in the region,' Clemo said. Another objective of the local focus is to help achieve the comfortability that patients will have graduates of D'Youville's program. 'We need physicians who understand the communities that they're going to be working in,' Clemo said. 'So that's part of the reason we've designed the program so that students from the community will be able to train in the community and also be able to practice in the community once they finish their training.' The program is anticipated to mirror the timeline of D'Youville's pharmacy program where a student enters as a freshman and achieves a doctorate in five years, Clemo said. The medical students then attend residency programs after graduation. D'Youville has more than 35 healthcare programs whose students interact and work in teams across the disciplines in the interprofessional approach that is embedded in the university's curriculum. This approach enables the communication and collaboration that benefits the patient. The addition of the medical students will enhance that experience for the students across all the majors. 'Our graduates will have had that experience not only in simulation but working with each other with real patients prior to going into the work world,' Clemo said. D'Youville is planning to build 188 single rooms in a new residence, specifically for graduate-level students, including the medical students, at 433 West Ave. Construction is expected to begin in January and be completed by August 2027. The aim is to ease the burden on students from having to find accommodations in Buffalo's housing shortage.
Business Journals
15-07-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Introducing the 2025 Women of Influence award winners
Buffalo Business First will honor 25 women in a variety of industries in September in the 19th annual awards Women of Influence awards.
Business Journals
23-06-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Note to Readers: Schools Guide printing error; here's how to see the full issue
Due to a printing press error, some copies of the 2025 Schools Guides were incorrect in the June 20 issue of Buffalo Business First. While the content was correct, the pages were compiled in the wrong order.
Business Journals
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
Engineering firms in Buffalo 2025
The largest engineering firms in Buffalo altogether employ over 450 licensed engineers locally. These firms have local offices in WNY (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming counties). The online version of this ranking expands beyond what appears in print; another 40 engineering firms are included in our digital rankings, in addition to the 38 featured in this week's print edition. This week's List is part of a shift in our research methodology and philosophy in 2025, one that will emphasize more data and context for readers while better coordinating the resources available to us and our 46 sister publications under the American City Business Journals flag. We anticipate this effort will identify thousands of new local records — and cumulatively, tens of thousands of new businesses across ACBJ's footprint — this year alone. Information on The List was obtained through Buffalo Business First research or supplied by individual firms through questionnaires that Buffalo Business First could not independently verify. In case of ties, firms are ranked by total employment and then listed alphabetically if ties remain. Additionally, companies that did not respond to employment surveys but were still included on this year's List are sorted by estimated total employment figures derived from Buffalo Business First archives; annual filings with the U.S. Department of Labor; and other firm-specific resources. For information about this and other Buffalo Business First lists, please contact Hassan Green – Data and Research Editor at hdgreen@
Business Journals
02-05-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
Table of Experts: Make mental wellness part of workplace culture
One in five adults and one in seven adolescents in the United States experience mental illness each year, statistics that are well understood by health and human services organizations that are on the frontlines of providing care to this population. Western New York is home to many such institutions. Leaders of six of them recently sat down with Buffalo Business First Publisher John Tebeau to discuss how they are addressing the demand for their services. Joining the discussion were: COVID-19 effect If there is a positive that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic it is the general awareness of mental health issues. People became more comfortable talking about their mental health needs and employers became more understanding about the financial, family and life stresses affecting the workforce, the panelists said. "It helped us be more in tune with where our employees are coming from," Seib said, "so when they are asking for some flexibilities, we're much more readily able to accommodate those than maybe in the past." Because of the new flexibility in the workplace, employers have needed to better communicate expectations. Mauro said there is a different emphasis in terms of what it means to show up at your job and participate as a member of a team. The pandemic also instilled the understanding that staff need to stay at home when they are not feeling well, be given the ability to take care of themselves and not be concerned about being absent from work. This has further challenged employers to ensure there is staff available to cover the absences. It is a new normal situation that Redfern believes society is adjusting to from the pandemic. "Part of the impact on people's mental emotional well-being was that thought of going back to how it was. It is never going to be that way," she said. Overdose declines The reported 12.3% decline in deaths from opioid overdose in New York state last year aligns with the national average, and panelists were hopeful that the decline will continue. "We have made a lot of headway as a community with reducing overdose deaths because of having things like Narcan and other harm-reduction efforts, but that does not mean that the illness has gone anywhere," Seib said. "We still have a lot of people who are really struggling." Seib said the stigma around substance use is stronger than that of mental health issues. Those who are suffering have let guilt, shame and judgment from others prevent them from seeking help. Providers have come a long way with increasing access to medication and support at the height of the opioid epidemic, she said, but there is still a big gap toward care. Voelker called it a war. "There is more community education, people are being taught how to deal with it. That has had an impact," Voelker said. "It is a war. We have to keep fighting because it can go backwards quickly." She said it is important for mental health services employers to recognize that staff members can become vulnerable to the stressors of their positions. Seib agreed, saying employees may be struggling, too. "Through the COVID epidemic substance use increased significantly, alcohol use especially increased," she said. "Well that doesn't just turn off. Are those people back in the workforce and still struggling with those challenges? How do they access support in a way that also meets their needs while they are still working?" Workplace culture Workplace culture plays significantly for both current staff and future hires who may be weighing their options among the various employers. It has become a team effort post-pandemic, as Redfern appealed to her staff during a recent employee appreciation day. "I told them that we have to do this together and I need their help so that we can create a culture that they want that is also attractive to people who come into this field," Redfern said. "We do get a lot of people that are just starting out in the field or maybe deciding they want to try something different. A lot of times they don't know what to expect, especially in mental health. So, it's how do we present ourselves as a company, how we are addressing mental health issues. We're having fun, and we're also taking care of each other." Horizon Health leadership has taken a particular interest on caring for the staff, recognizing that happy employees translate to good care for clients. There wasn't a lot of attention paid to staff when Vandermark-Murray and her colleagues started their careers. She wanted to shift the culture to an emphasis on her workers. "As early clinicians, we just felt like we were just seeing patient after patient, so what we do now is really lean into making connections," she said. "The connection is one-to-one; it is from me to my staff. We invest in technology so that staff have more time for patients and each other." It seems to be working. This year the organization was recognized nationally, based on employee nominations, Vandermark-Murray said. For many, culture can top salary for workplace satisfaction. Hunter remembers being told as a nursing student that her enthusiasm for the job is going to have to be a driving force in her career, because there is no big money in the field. She said she could live with that reality, because she had passion for the work. But attitudes have changed with the generations, she said. "The people who are coming in now are newer to the field. They obviously want decent pay, which everyone deserves, but they also want to be treated really well," Hunter said. "Being nonprofits, we are challenged sometimes with what we can pay. We have our limitations, so what else can we bring for people?" As director of worker health and safety programming, Hunter has seen to it that staff are treated to little perks such as stress-relieving yoga sessions and chair massages, but perhaps more significantly they are given retreats and other forums where they can contribute ideas and air concerns. No one should feel like a number or that they are being ignored, rather they are being listened to, and their opinions are valued, Hunter said. Reaching future hires The panelists stressed the importance of partnerships with academic programs that can give students exposure to their fields before they graduate. Some of the exposure is putting working professionals into the classroom to teach to today's health and human service environment. Further practicum courses, shadowing programs and internships help students explore their options and understand the reality of the jobs they are after. Such introductions to the field will help the student mentally prepare for the rigors of the job and acclimate faster. Students looking at community health nursing or becoming a community mental health worker have had their eyes open through this opportunity, Redfern said. "They are going on home visits, they are seeing people in their element, which is a little different than having someone come to you," she said. "We have had conversations with advisers to say they might want to talk to students early." Voelker agreed. Offering students exposure to the field is increasingly important as many students are offered positions well before they graduate, she said. Redfern added that even if the student decides the field isn't for them, at least they will have been exposed to a service available in the community. Mental health stigma The mental health stigma of the past seems to be easing with younger generations, who are willing to disclose that something is wrong and to seek the help of a professional, the panelists said. Perhaps the rate of mental illness is prompting the growing acceptance. Voelker said at a recent meeting she asked who among the staff gathered there did not have someone in their family who has a mental health or addiction issue. Very few raised their hand, she said. "There definitely is a shift, and you see it more with younger people whether it is people that we're serving, or it is your employees that are really struggling themselves," Voelker said. "The stigma is still there to some degree, but it is less than it has been, but I think there's still work to do." Redfern agreed. "There are some places where you are still going to be looked at a certain way, which is why I think it is important to have a variety of services," she said. "Someone is more willing to go to a yoga meditation class than they would be necessarily to go to a counselor." Mauro said at Endeavor Health there is emphasis on holistic health through team building and mentoring staff and programs that are preventive but also fun. These measures have included worksite health screenings that have identified conditions such as high blood pressure and depression. They have extended to programs on family functioning and financial health, the kind of significant issues outside of work that might be affecting a staff member's performance. Through these approaches staff are encouraged to take care of themselves, so they can take care of others. "We basically do the things that we tell other people they should do," Mauro said. Hunter found that the younger workers among the ECMC staff are more likely to visit the on-site social worker there especially to address employee health. The older generation may realize they have a problem, but they don't want to talk about it. Employers see their workers every day and when they recognize a change in behavior, they should be able to offer services. "You know when something's up with your employee, when an employee has a different behavior. When something is off you have to be able to address it and help them get help," Hunter said. Horizon Health has measured a 21% growth in mental health services among the 65 and older population, Vandermark-Murray said. She suggested that the data is indicative of the region's aging population and the many who are taking care of their elderly parents. For this demographic, which has been reluctant to admit a mental health issue, the right approach is to educate around mental wellness, not illness. "We look at how you take care of yourself in a meaningful way when they have stress going on. This demographic wants to talk to someone just like they do when they're taking care of their physical issues." Better together The spirit of collaboration among providers of mental health and other services helps to fight limited resources, and together they bring a wealth of care to the region, Seib said. The BestSelf's Scott Bieler Child Advocacy Center is an example, she said. The CAC consolidates services previously spread across multiple locations, bringing together a multidisciplinary team under one roof. The team includes law enforcement, victim advocates, forensic interviewers, medical examiners, prosecutors, and mental health providers working collaboratively to provide safety, support and healing. It is joining forces with CACs across the state, Seib said. She also mentioned the Erie County Overdose Prevention Task Force, which is directed by county officials and includes representatives from the organizations around the table. There are others in the region and across the state and nation. "There are all these spaces where we get to come together and talk about what's going on in your area and in our community and who's doing what to address it," seib said. "we all know what is happening because we are all at the same table to have those conversations. That helps us figure out who is doing what right." Panelists Thameena Hunter, director of system health and safety, Erie County Medical Center. Thameena Hunter began her career at ECMC in 2006 as a general duty nurse on a medical/surgical forensic psychiatric unit. Her commitment to patient care and operational excellence led to her appointment as Unit Manager of the Renal/Transplant Center of Excellence later that year. She advanced to nursing care coordinator, where she directed critical operations in the emergency room, critical care, and behavioral health. She transitioned to unit manager/ambulatory department, overseeing approximately 100 nurses across 30 clinics. In 2024, Thameena was appointed director of system health and safety, where she leads initiatives on employee health, occupational medicine, system health and safety, and safe patient handling. She holds a BS degree in community mental health, a BSN in nursing, and an MS in nursing executive leadership. Additionally, she is certified in critical incident stress management, equipping her with the skills to support employees in crisis situations and promote resilience within the workforce. Elizabeth Mauro, president and CEO, Endeavor Health Services. Elizabeth Mauro, LCSW-R is the CEO of Endeavor Health Services. She has led the growth of the organization from Erie County into Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, and Monroe Counties. Endeavor is a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic and is licensed in the areas of Adult Mental Health, Child Mental Health and Addiction Services and Supports. Mauro is the recipient of the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Association of Social Workers, NYS Western Division. A 2022 Business First honoree of the Women of Influence award, A 2018 Honoree for Business First C-Level Suite awards and has been honored as a member of the Business First Power 150 Women Awards for the past several years. She serves as the Board Chair for People Inc., the largest area not-for-profit health and human services agency and is on the board of trustees for the Health Foundation of Western and Central New York. Chandra Redfern, CEO, Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers. Chandra Redfern is the CEO of the Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers (BFNC), a community-based nonprofit organization in New York. She is a graduate of Canisius University and has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Chandra is recognized for her ability to create diverse and strategic partnerships that make a positive impact in the community. Established from the Settlement House movement, BFNC has provided Chandra with the opportunity to develop expertise in creating solutions to help those in need of assistance. As CEO, her vision is to reimagine community through innovative service delivery. One initiative associated with this vision was providing mental health educational outreach to BIPOC communities of faith. Chandra has received many recognitions for her hard work and advocacy and serves on several boards and committees that focus on providing services to help people overcome life's obstacles and uplift the community. Jennifer Seib, senior vice president of strategic initiatives, BestSelf Behavioral Health, Inc. Seib is a licensed mental health counselor and credentialed alcoholism and substance abuse counselor who has been working in behavioral health care for over 20 years. She started out as a substance use disorder counselor in outpatient and then intensive residential treatment before moving into several different leadership roles over the years. Presently, Seib provides senior leadership support to many programs and service types at BestSelf, including programs supporting rapid access to Medication Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, residential programs for pregnant and parenting women and transitional aged youth with substance use challenges and co-occurring disorders, Opioid treatment program, justice involved program, jail-based substance use disorder treatment services, and housing and homeless services. Seib also serves as co-chair for the Erie County Overdose Prevention Task Force Treatment & Prevention Provider Workgroup and has been part of the Western New York Chemical Dependency Consortium since 2012, where she served as public policy chair for five years. She currently serves as vice chair and is a board member of New York State COMPA (Coalition of Medication-Assisted Treatment Providers and Advocates). Brandy Vandermark-Murray, CEO, Horizon Health Services. Brandy Vandermark-Murray is the president of Horizon Corporations in Buffalo, New York. She previously served as senior vice president of operations at Horizon Corporations, where she had executive oversight of operations for all behavioral health programs. Over the past 10 years, Brandy has held various operational leadership roles within Horizon and played a critical role in expanding behavioral health services across Western New York. Outside of Horizon, Brandy has served as an adjunct professor at Canisius University in Buffalo, New York, teaching in the Graduate School of Mental Health Counseling. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to the field of substance use, Brandy has been awarded the ASAP Eileen Pencer Women's Leadership Award. She currently serves as the board chair of the substance use committee at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. Brandy is a strong advocate for the behavioral health workforce and for patient quality of care. She serves on various boards including Aspire, The Service Collective, CCSI, and the Seneca Babcock Community Center. Cindy Voelker, president and CEO, Spectrum Health & Human Services. As a graduate of the Buffalo General School of Nursing and the University at Buffalo, I joined Spectrum Health & Human Services in 1984 and have held many different positions over my long, satisfying career. I have been part of the executive team since 2010 and was the associate CEO for five years. I was appointed CEO in 2022. My passion and reason for my long tenure at Spectrum Health and in community behavioral health is my ability to impact change and improve the lives of individuals and families in our community struggling with mental health and addiction issues. There have been many highlights over the past couple of years as we have struggled through the pandemic. The major highlight is the amazing staff and healthcare providers we have at Spectrum Health and in our community. l am forever grateful for their hard work and never-ending dedication. I am also grateful for the number of lives we have helped and continue to help. My goal is to continue to lead Spectrum Health to be an exemplary provider of quality and compassionate care while providing the same experience for our staff.
