We are honored that Acting Commissioner of Health, Kaitlan Baston, M.D., sat down with us for a Take Five to share her priorities and thoughts on the pressing health issues facing our state. I urge you all to read Dr. Baston’s Take Five below.

I also want to share the upcoming events we have planned for the months ahead — everything from educational opportunities to our spring conference on Top Health Care Issues for NJ Voters at the Ballot Box: from affordability to abortion. Our programs are developed to support the critical work of our members and drive forward systemic improvements. Please see what’s ahead and join us.

• From March through May we’re offering four free Mental Health First Aid Training sessions for people working in four areas: with adults; with youth; with veterans; and with pregnant individuals. Our post-training surveys show that people who complete the trainings feel better prepared to support a person experiencing a mental health crisis. We appreciate the support of our different funders for these trainings, including The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, and the Healthcare Foundation for New Jersey.

We’re also hosting a range of educational programs on reproductive and maternal health care for providers, payers, community-based organizations and individuals.

• In partnership with New Jersey Family Planning League, in March we are hosting two trainings focused on sharing best practices for providing high-quality, patient-centered reproductive health care, and highlighting effective strategies for navigating complex payment, care delivery, and policy systems barriers.

• Our Maternity Action Plan (MAP) workshops continue April 24 with a session focused on collecting REaL (race, ethnicity, and language) data and stratifying it to improve health equity and quality. We’ll discuss the need for education and training to do this well.

• We’re excited that on April 25 our Maternal Infant Health Hub will host an in-person learning session. This session will feature a presentation on regulatory and policy solutions for modernizing midwifery in New Jersey, as well as provide opportunities for networking among midwives, midwifery students, state policymakers, regulators, and other health care leaders over lunch.

• Our June 6 MAP session will focus on maternal mental health. It will provide details on existing programs and resources providers can connect pregnant and postpartum individuals with, as well what’s needed to make these programs sustainable.

The Quality Institute’s Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC), in partnership with the NJ State League of Municipalities, continues to engage New Jersey communities more each year. By early April we will announce the Healthy Town designees for 2023. With over 65 applications this year, we were inspired to hear about the focused efforts local leaders are putting into making their communities healthier places. April 16 is National and NJ Healthcare Decisions Day, and our MWC towns are hosting several events to educate residents on the importance of advance care planning. If you would like to plan one or work locally on this initiative, please reach out to us.

Finally, our Spring All Council Conference on May 14 will explore Top Health Care Issues for NJ Voters at the Ballot Box: from Affordability to Abortion. Look for event details and open registration next week (event is for members and invited guests).

We hope to see you at these events and welcome your suggestions on other programs you’d like to see. If you haven’t already taken our member survey, please do so to help us continuously improve in support of our mission to advance health care quality, safety, and affordability.