Mental health. Health equity. Maternal and infant health. The power of love. The future of academic medicine. Expanding public health. The AI health evolution.
Those are just some of the topics that will be tackled during the 2024 gathering of Health Connect South at the Georgia Aquarium on Sept. 18. It is the 11th annual gathering of Health Connect South, which convened 1,200 attendees last year. Organizers expect attendance to match that of last year, and registrations are still open.
“The mission of Health Connect South is to serve the health community and to be a platform to promote collaborations,” said Russ Lipari, Health Connect’s founder and CEO. “We have really tried to curate a gathering of the ‘Who’s Who in health so they will help carry that collaboration forward.”
The lunchtime plenary session will be a highlight.
Georgia’s first lady, Marty Kemp, will be part of the conversation on what it will take to improve mental health. She will be joined by Kevin Tanner, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities, as well as Ryan Greenstein, associate director of public policy for the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program.
There’s a subtle message among those three. Mental health is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. Unfortunately, the issue of mental health transcends just about every corner of society. It is not surprising that whenever there’s a mass shooting, invariably people talk about the need for better mental health services.
Marty Kemp will talk about the suicide and crisis prevention campaign that includes the 988 number that people can call for support. Her video message also will be shared during the session.
Although mental health has been part of previous Health Connect South’s gatherings, the timing of the topic seems particularly poignant this year. A collaboration between Emory University, Children’s Healthcare and others is providing more services to younger populations. Efforts also are being made to address addiction issues for people of all ages.
“Post Covid, I could make the argument that mental health is a pivotal issue,” Lipari said. “There are a lot of factors that contribute to mental health issues.”
The lunch session will then have a keynote address by Hilary Marston, the chief medical officer for the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. She will be introduced by James Weyhenmeyer, a professor of neuroscience and drug discovery at Auburn University. Lipari said they will highlight several programs that have fostered collaborations with the FDA.
There will be about a dozen breakout panels during the course of the day.
One panel will focus on improving Georgia’s maternal and infant mortality rates. Nationally, Georgia and Mississippi often rank at the bottom among states.
Tackling that issue will be Keisha Callins, a clinical professor at Mercer University’s School of Medicine; Daniele Fallin, dean of Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health; David Jones, chief medical officer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia; and Kelsey Mayo, CEO of Armor Medical.
The conference also will look at the future of medical education. Michelle Nuss, the founding dean of the University of Georgia’s School of Medicine, and Sandra Wong, dean of Emory University’s School of Medicine, will be part of that conversation.
Georgia lags behind most states when it comes for having enough medical professionals to serve its population. As many as 82 of Georgia’s 159 counties don’t have an OB/GYN, 65 counties don’t have a pediatrician and 90 counties don’t have a psychiatrist.
Studies have shown that the majority of medical residents continue to practice in the state where they completed their residencies. By 2025, Georgia is projected to have 966 new residency positions.
When asked if there’s a theme to this year’s gathering, Lipari said Health Connect South purposefully avoids having an annual focus. Instead, the idea is to cover a broad cross-section of issues and invite the players who can make a difference.
“We’re not trying to be the Georgia Hospital Association. We are not trying to a global health group. We are not trying to be Georgia Bio,” Lipari said. “We are trying to bring everyone together.”
The topic of the opening session is: The Collaborative Power of Living and Leading with Love. That topic is reminiscent of the very first Health Connect South in 2014 when Mark Rosenberg, who was then president and CEO of the Task Force for Global Health, spoke about the power of love and wellbeing.
“What we have created is for all sectors of our healthcare community to come together,” said Lipari when looking back on the past decade of Health Connect South gatherings. “I hope it’s a great reflection on our health community to see so many diverse people coming together.”
Georgia is in a unique position of having top health professionals and entities based in the state. Unfortunately, from my perspective, it’s a shame that a gap exists between the expertise we have and the poor health outcomes in our state. We have to do better.
If we are going to find a way to bridge the health equity divides that separate our state from the haves and the have nots, it will be through the spirit of public and private collaboration that Health Connect South emulates.
