HealthCare Access Maryland’s (HCAM) three-part “Making Maryland Healthier” Speaker Series concluded on Thursday, May 18th with the final session, a conversation with Chancellor Jay Perman, MD of the University System of Maryland.

The discussions in the 2022-2023 Speaker Series focused on what makes a community healthy, and the strategies and solutions being implemented to improve the well-being of every Marylander. HCAM welcomed community leaders to share their perspectives on opportunities to make Maryland a healthier place to live and work in one-on-one conversations with HCAM’s CEO, Traci Kodeck.

HCAM was honored to be joined by Dr. Perman, who assumed the role as the 5th Chancellor of the University System of Maryland in January 2020. Through stories of his experiences working as a physician and an educator, Dr. Perman shared the importance of addressing Social Determinants of Health to improve health outcomes. Dr. Perman also discussed the critical role of education to making our state healthier, from ensuring every child receives a quality education, to literacy and health literacy issues, and educating the next generation of health professionals.

Dr. Perman highlighted the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s groundbreaking program, the UMB CURE Scholars, which empowers and provides pathways for middle and high school students from Baltimore’s underserved communities to higher education. Dr. Perman shared that 100% of the first cohort to complete the program, who first entered the program at age eleven, were all accepted to college this year.

Finally, Dr. Perman discussed the importance of educating and retaining a diverse and culturally competent healthcare workforce in Maryland. He noted the particular need to provide incentives and assistance to attract health professionals to work in Maryland’s rural and historically marginalized communities.

The Speaker Series event was recorded and can be viewed here:

Thank You to Our Speaker Series Sponsors

The Making Maryland Healthier Speaker Series is generously supported by our partners TriBridge Partners and Window Nation. We thank them for supporting our work to make Maryland healthier.

This is the third and final installment in the “Making Maryland Healthier” Speaker Series. Learn more about the Series.