All Access Healthcare: Social Determinants of Health

Denard Cummings is the Director of the Bureau of Social Determinants of Health, within the Office of Health Insurance Programs (OHIP) at the New York State Department of Health.  The Bureau has the primary responsibility of integrating health and human services in New York State.  Prior to this appointment, Denard was the Director of the Bureau of Supportive Housing where he functioned as the supervising manager of the Medicaid Redesign Team Supportive Housing Initiative.  As the Director of the Bureau of Supportive Housing, he was a staunch advocate for the reality that Housing is Healthcare.

Mr. Cummings is currently pursuing a Doctor of Public Health degree at the University at Albany, School of Public Health.  He obtained a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany and a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.

Mr. Cummings has over a decade of professional experience in New York State Government with policy interest in Human Service, Juvenile Justice, Higher Education and Health.  He is a subject matter expert on supportive housing and social determinants of health.  Under Mr. Cummings leadership the Bureau of Social Determinants of Health is working to transform the New York State healthcare delivery system by incorporating Community Based Organizations and addressing Social Determinants of Health to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Lindsay Farrell was appointed President and CEO by the Board of Directors in 1998. Since that time, Open Door has grown significantly adding new sites, programs and technologies to more than double the number of low-income people served. Today, Open Door is accredited by the Joint Commission, recognized by the National Committee on Quality Assurance as a Level 3 Patient Centered Medical Home and has won the prestigious national Davies Award from HIMSS, the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society.

Ms. Farrell is a member of the Board of Directors of MVP Health Plan in Schenectady, and is the Chair of HealthEfficient and serves on the Board of the Community Health Care Association of New York State.  She is also a past Chair of the Westchester Women’s Agenda.

Ms. Farrell is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and received her Master’s in Business Administration from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. She is a Fellow in the American College of Medical Practice Executives.  She is also the recipient of the Sol Feinstein Community Service Award from St. Lawrence University and the Betsy Cooke Grassroots Advocacy Award from the National Association of Community Health Centers.

Amanda Parsons, MBA, MD is the Vice President of Community & Population Health at Montefiore
Health System and is an Assistant Professor of Family & Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of
Medicine headquartered in the Bronx. She oversees community interventions aimed at improving
health and wellness of patients, staff and communities. She leads Montefiore’s Bronx DSRIP activities
and oversees the design and implementation of several new workflows including social determinants of
health screening. Prior to that, she was Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Health Care Access and
Improvement at the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) where she oversaw the
Primary Care Information Project, Correctional Health Services, Primary Care Access and Planning as well
as IT, Finance, Admin and Legal bureaus.

Dr. Parsons previously worked for McKinsey & Company as an Engagement Manager serving health care
clients. She earned her M.D. and M.B.A from Columbia University. Dr. Parsons is passionate about
improving health and health care quality, correctional health and reducing disparities for vulnerable
populations.

Dr. Parsons also serves on the Board of the Directors of the Vera Institute of Justice, VIP Community
Services, I-MAK and the New York eHealth Collaborative. She is a recipient of Crains’ 40 Under 40 Class
of 2015 award and the 25 Bronx Influential Women 2018 award. She serves on several committees
including NCQA’s Clinical Performance Measurement Committee and co-leader of the NYC Mayor’s Task
Force on Criminal Justice’s Release Re-entry Workgroup.

Janet (Jessie) Sullivan, MD, joined the WMCHealth Network in June, 2014 as the founding Medical Director for the Center for Regional Healthcare Innovation (CRHI) where she oversees the development and implementation of clinical programs under the federal and New York State Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program. Prior to joining WMCHealth PPS, Dr. Sullivan served as Chief Medical Officer of Hudson Health Plan, a not-for-profit Medicaid managed care plan serving the Hudson Valley.