2023 Annual Spring Conference

Join the Ohio Healthy Homes Network for its first in-person Annual Spring Conference since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Friday, May 12, 2023
Breakfast: 8:30 a.m.
Sessions:
9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The Fawcett Center at
The Ohio State University
2400 Olentangy River Rd
Columbus, OH 43210
Click here
to Register
Space is limited
Licensees take note! Applications are in the process of being submitted to the Ohio Board of Nursing, the Counselor and Social Work Board of Ohio and the Ohio Department of Health Environmental Health Specialist Program to qualify for as many as 6.5 hours of continuing education depending on the licensing entity.*

Conference Program

9:00 a.m. – Plenary: Opening Meeting Remarks
Cari Stork

Cari Stork

OHHN Program Committee Chair
Recognition of Sponsors

Fred Strahorn

Fred Strahorn

OHHN Executive Director
Welcome and announcements

Phillip Bouton

Phillip Bouton

OHHN Board President
Introduction of Keynote Speaker

9:15 a.m.
Keynote Speaker: Bruce T. Vanderhoff, M.D., M.B.A., Ohio Department of Health Director
Dr. Bruce Vanderhof
Bruce Vanderhoff, M.D., M.B.A, was appointed director of the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) in August 2021. Dr. Vanderhoff joined the agency after being named chief medical officer in November 2020 and is a key leader in planning, managing, and executing Ohio’s COVID-19 response, including its wide-reaching vaccination program. Dr. Vanderhoff also leads the effort to transform the landscape of public health in Ohio through programs and policies that strive to erase inequities, elevate the importance of social determinants, and improve healthcare access and outcomes. Before joining ODH, Dr. Vanderhoff served more than a decade as a senior vice president and chief medical officer at OhioHealth, where he prepared the healthcare system to manage the threat of Ebola and H1N1. Dr. Vanderhoff holds a doctorate in medicine from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Business Administration from Franklin University. He completed a residency in family medicine at York Hospital in York, Pennsylvania.
10:15 a.m.
BREAK
10:20 a.m.
Breakout 1: Government Policy – Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Department of Development
Pam Blais
Pam Blais, R.E.H.S., Ohio Department of Health
Pam Blais has been employed with the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) for 27 years in the lead poisoning prevention field. She has served as a Program Manager for the ODH Lead Licensure Program and now oversees the Public Health Lead Investigation Program within the Bureau of Environmental Health and Radiation Protection. She is Project Director for the agency’s HUD Lead Hazard Control Grant Program, manages the SCHIP Lead Hazard Abatement Project, and assists in overseeing the ODH’s Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) grant. She has also taken on several smaller lead related projects including expanding the lead abatement industry workforce and managing the lead in demolition and Middle-Income lead hazard control projects. Ms. Blais received a BS in Environmental Health from Purdue University and is a registered sanitarian.
Luke Stedke
Luke Stedke, M.P.A., Ohio Department of Development
Luke Stedke is the Assistant Chief of the Community Services Division of the Ohio Department of Development. Luke formerly worked at Drive Ohio to develop and implement public policy that fosters the safe deployment of smart mobility technology, on the ground and in the air. Luke also served at the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board as the Deputy Director for Communications. In this role, he oversaw all agency communications and worked closely with the Ohio General Assembly on a wide range of policy issues. Luke holds a BA in History from The Ohio State University, and a master’s degree in public administration from the Voinovich School of Public Policy at Ohio University.
10:20 a.m.
Breakout 2: Healthcare: Lead as a Social Determinant of Health and an Environmental Justice Issue
Roopa Thakur
Roopa Thakur, M.D., F.A.A.P., Cleveland Clinic Hospital
Roopa Thakur, M.D., F.A.A.P., is a practicing pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Independence Family Health Center. She is board certified in general pediatrics. She earned her medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio and completed her post-graduate training at Cleveland Clinic Children’s in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Thakur’s interests include resident education and healthcare advocacy. She currently serves as Associate Program Director of Cleveland Clinic Children’s Pediatric Residency Program, overseeing the primary care experiences of our trainees. She also serves as Medical Director of School-Based Health Clinics and Medical Director of Youth Strategies for Cleveland Clinic Community Health and Partnerships. A lifelong resident of Ohio, she serves as the Medical Director of the Lead Safe Ohio program, operated by the Ohio chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
11:20 a.m.
BREAK
11:30 a.m.
Lunch – Awards Presentation

 

Legislators of the Year– State Senator Matt Dolan (R., Cleveland), State Representative Dontavius Jarrells (D., Columbus) and State Representative Tom Patton (R., Cleveland)

Community Service Award – Historic South Initiative
Lifetime Achievement Award – Patricia Barnes

11:45 a.m.
Keynote Speaker: David E. Jacobs, Ph.D., C.I.H., National Center for Healthy Housing Chief Scientist
David Jacobs
David Jacobs, Ph.D., C.I.H., has helped hundreds of communities develop effective lead paint and healthy housing programs. He is currently Chief Scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing, with academic appointments at the Schools of Public Health at the University of Illinois Chicago and Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Jacobs is a contributing author to the 2018 Guidelines on Housing and Health from the World Health Organization and helped launch the US Healthy Homes Initiative in 1999. He is the principal author of the 1995 HUD Guidelines for the Evaluation and Control of Lead Based Paint Hazards and the 2000 President’s Task Force report on childhood lead poisoning prevention. Dr. Jacobs previously served as director of the HUD Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes from 1995-2004. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and 20 book chapters. Dr. Jacobs holds degrees in Environmental Engineering; Science and Technology Policy; Environmental Health; and Political Science. He is a licensed lead paint risk assessor and a board-certified industrial hygienist.
1:00 p.m.
Connecting and Collaborating
This interactive plenary session will provide participants with insight into current healthy homes topics and resources while increasing valuable connections through meeting new colleagues working in the healthy homes field. Participants will rotate through tables with set topics and time allotments. Participants will be asked to introduce themselves and provide a short introduction of their work and interests in the healthy homes field and any work that touches on the table topic. Each table topic will be facilitated, providing best practice information and resources and to fill in conversational gaps.
1:45 p.m.
BREAK
1:50 p.m.
Breakout 3: Building Lead-Safe Collaboratives (Panel Discussion)
Aaron Grant
Aaron Grant, M.A., People Working Cooperatively
In addition to being a member of the OHHN Board of Trustees, Aaron Grant is a senior project manager at People Working Cooperatively (PWC) in Cincinnati where he works on health-focused housing initiatives including lead poisoning prevention, asthma trigger reduction and fall prevention. Grant holds an M.A. in Public Service and is also a licensed Risk Assessor. He has worked in the nonprofit housing sector for 14 years in the areas of home repair, accessibility and lead abatement, and provides direct services to low-income residents while working to strengthen partnerships between the housing and health sectors. Grant is a member and past-chair of the Hamilton County Lead and Healthy Homes Collaborative and serves on the Steering Committee of the Ohio Lead Free Kids Coalition.
Stephanie Beebe
Stephanie Beebe, City of Toledo
Stephanie Beebe has been working in housing and public safety since 2006. She is currently the manager for the City of Toledo’s Demolition Program, and she previously served as the Lead Safe Coordinator in Toledo, where she pioneered an astounding example of what coordinated citywide efforts toward lead prevention can achieve. She also served as a project manager for the Lucas County Land Bank. While in that position, Stephanie facilitated the largest demolition and vacant lot repurposing program in the City of Toledo. In addition, Stephanie currently serves on the Board of Trustees for OHHN and NeighborWorks Toledo Region. Stephanie has a BS in Criminal Justice from the University of Toledo.
Wyonette Cheairs
Wyonette Cheairs, M.S.S.A., Enterprise Community Partners
Wyonette Cheairs is a Program Director at Enterprise Community Partners, a national affordable housing and community development nonprofit. Located in Enterprise’s Ohio Market office, she leads the team charged to convene and manage the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, a 500 + member, public private partnership formed in 2019 to prevent lead poisoning in Cleveland, Ohio. Wyonette is a conduit between the community and coalition partners and funders, she convenes and lead Coalition committees and manages the Coalition’s multimillion dollar Lead Safe Home Fund and contracts with the Lead Safe Home Fund Administrators. The Lead Safe Home Fund is a first-of-its-kind fund, a replicable model to support property owners and families to achieve lead safety.

Prior to joining Enterprise, Wyonette worked at a local community development corporation developing and managing programs that stabilized the housing stock, repopulated neighborhoods, and increased homeownership for families with lower incomes. Her portfolio includes the national model, Greater Circle Living, a joint employer assisted housing program designed to encourage nonprofit and anchor institution employees in Greater University Circle, to live near work. Wyonette holds a bachelor’s degree in Urban Affairs from Cleveland State University and master’s degree in Social Administration from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

1:50 Breakout 4
Breakout 4: Fundraising/Grant Writing
Adam Nation
Adam Nation, M.P.H, M.P.P., Mt. Sinai Foundation
Adam Nation currently serves as a program officer for Mt. Sinai Health Foundation in Cleveland. In this role he manages a portfolio of approximately 30 grants that pilot and expand effective public health interventions. Adam holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the University of Michigan School of Public Health, a Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from The Ohio State University. He has over a decade of experience in coalition building, communications, government affairs and public policy.
2:50 p.m.
BREAK
2:55 p.m.
Plenary: Wrap-up Session
Review of the day’s events, discussion of next steps and take-aways and recognition of event sponsors.
3:30 p.m.
ADJOURN
*Columbus Public Health is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the Colorado Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. (OBN-001-91). Nursing Continuing Education contact hours in process.
Page Last Modified: 05/02/2023 – 5:10 p.m.