October 16 Quarterly Community Health Meeting Recap
As we lead into the fall season, the Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County was thrilled to host our final Quarterly Community Health meeting of 2025. We thank everyone who joined us, both in person and online, and appreciate our partners’ continued engagement and collaboration to strengthen the health and wellbeing of our community.
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A special note of appreciation goes to Dr. Cheryl Cioffi, Frederick Health’s new CEO and President, for joining us and sharing her inspiring vision for the future. We’re grateful for her commitment to lifting all voices and continuing to advance healthcare and improve health outcomes across our community.
Malcolm Furgol, our Executive Director, shared exciting developments about our Health Equity Framework we have been working on in collaboration with SEA Healthcare, which is set to publicly launch later this year. The purpose of our Health Equity Framework is to:
Guide collective action to embed health equity across strategy, governance, and community engagement
Serve as a strategic anchor and a practical tool
Ensure consistent, accountable, and transparent practices
As part of the Framework, we are publishing a health equity brochure and rack card to share why health equity matters, our commitment to health equity, our short-, mid-, and long-term goals, and how the community can get involved in our initiatives.
Malcolm then announced that Minuteman Press has recently committed to being a Health Champion Sponsor of Healthier Frederick, and we were recognized as Maryland Ensemble Theater’s Community Partner for their recent showing of The Shark is Broken. Thank you, Minuteman Press and MET!
Rissah Watkins from the Frederick County Health Department (FCHD) shared important updates and upcoming events, including a flu vaccination clinic for children and the launch of a Spanish-speaking Healthy Hearts Class.
Our four Local Health Improvement Process (LHIP) Workgroups presented updates on the progress they have made since finalizing their logic models as they continue the development of their action plans. The Workgroups are already planning for and taking on unique projects to address each issue. For example, the Mental Health Workgroup has funding to provide 6 local clinicians with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy training scholarships, hosted by Trauma Specialists Training Institute. The purpose of this initiative is to expand the capacity of trauma treatment modalities in Frederick County. This scholarship application can be found here and the deadline to apply is October 31.
To learn more about what each Workgroup is up to and how you can get involved, view the meeting slides by clicking the button at the top of this page.
If you’re interested in joining a Workgroup, visit https://healthierfrederick.org/priorities/join-a-workgroup to learn more and complete the Workgroup Interest Form, available in English and Spanish.
Thank you to everyone who joined us. Your engagement, questions, and shared insights help make Frederick County a healthier, more equitable community. Special thanks again to Dr. Cheryl Cioffi for her thoughtful presentation and to all of our Workgroups and partners for their continued dedication. We look forward to seeing you at the next quarterly meeting in January and continuing this important work together!