Community Health Council summit draws nonprofit leaders with info, networking

During a four-hour summit Thursday morning, representatives of Lebanon County nonprofits, businesses, and government entities met for the annual Community Health Council (CHC) summit, where attendees had a chance to learn more about other organizations and programs promoting the health of Lebanon County residents.

Kelly Hauck said that she and colleague Amanda Hassler, both nurses at Bethany Children’s Home, were drawn to the conference by presentations on AI, with Shawn Sweigart of Design Data Technology Partners leading a talk on practical uses of AI in the workplace and Dr. David Gasperack of WellSpan Health speaking about AI in healthcare.

However, with spotlights on different organizations and projects throughout the summit, Hauck said she was happy to also make connections that could assist Bethany Children’s Home in serving patients. She said she planned to reach out to Lebanon Family Health Services and potentially use the PA Navigate tool.

“It might help us with making appointments and finding doctors for our youth,” Hassler said. The tool, which catalogs available food, housing, health, education, and other services by ZIP code, was the topic of a presentation by Kay Royer of Community Action Association of PA and Marianne Smith of Central PA Connect Health Information Exchange.

“It’s definitely all in one place, so we have lots of different doctors and we have to go through different avenues to get them, so I think we’re going to look into that more for sure,” said Hauck.

Kathleen Hetrick of Aging Inspired, an informal group of volunteers providing services to Lebanon’s growing senior population, said she was also excited to learn more about AI as someone mostly unfamiliar with the technology. Hetrick said she was happy to talk to a young man at her table about AI and technology.

“I’m on the aging spectrum, so I haven’t used AI; I was talking with a young man at the table and he was telling me he’s 30 years old and grew up with technology and has a totally different perspective,” said Hetrick. “I was very interested to find out how AI can be utilized with health services, and I really appreciated the comments from WellSpan in the beginning. They talked totally about the human aspect versus the technology, which I was really pleased to hear.”

Hetrick said she did not get a chance to talk to many new people, but that she was impressed with health services available locally. The final presentation of the summit — which focused on how built environments affect community — highlighted the Lebanon Valley Rail Trail, an ongoing county comprehensive plan update, Penn State REACH, Coleman Memorial Park, and efforts to expand recreation and walkability by Lebanon city.

“I’m very proud of what Lebanon County is doing to try to make sure that people stay healthy,” said Hetrick.

Martha Thompson of Empower the Mind, which provides mental healthcare and services, said she has been attending the summit for years. She said she has made new contacts at the summit before and often runs into people Empower the Mind has worked with previously.

“It’s always a pleasure to see how everything comes together; all of the community stakeholders from many different industries all working on the shared goal of community wellness,” said Thompson.

Shannon McMinn of Compeer, which provides community-based mental health support for adults, said she appreciates the chance to collaborate with other nonprofits. She referenced a collaboration with the CHC and Empower the Mind to hold a monthly support group for those who have lost loved ones to suicide.

“It’s always good to be reminded of just how collaborative and amazing our community can be,” said McMinn. “I think Lebanon is special in how much collaboration there is.”

Lebanon city’s director of administration, Janelle Groh, who spoke Thursday, said the summit is a good chance to celebrate local improvements. Her presentation emphasized projects within the last five years, including the Cumberland streetscape project, park improvements, and recreation features like the splash pad and dog park.

“It was really, really neat to be able to speak on the projects that have been happening, that we’ve been working so hard on,” said Groh. “A lot of the presenters are partners, collaborators, stakeholders who contributed to be able to make those projects happen.”

“It starts with collaboration and partnership; so many of the projects that I presented today started off with a conversation,” said Groh.