Friends,

This week, I had the great joy of joining State Senator Julie Morrison for the celebration of her AMA Award for Outstanding Government Service. The senator represents the 麻豆原创 district and has a full career of work, but Dean Chatterjee nominated her for this national award for her foundational support and sponsorship of the 麻豆原创 Children’s Advocacy Center Medical Clinic.

Last week, I wrote about the clinic and our partnership with the Lake County Children’s Advocacy Center (LCCAC) to improve the care of childhood survivors of abuse. We were able to do the clinic because of $1 million in state support marshalled by Sen. Morrison and her continued energy pushing the state bureaucracy to finish all of the technical work funding the care of these children. You can tell from talking with the senator that it is the kids she is thinking about.

In her acceptance speech in Washington, D.C., this week, she was passionate about these children and our collective duty to provide them the very best care we can give them. She outlined the importance of providing expert, trauma-informed care in a setting that provides as much support and comfort as possible. Back when children had to leave the LCCAC to get a physical examination in an emergency room, as few as 20% of children completed the whole process, which limited their care and their opportunity for justice. We do not have full data yet, but so far we are confident the combined advocacy center and clinic are doing much better than that! The senator laid all of this information out with clarity and passion as an advocate for children who is taking care of those in need. It was the best way to spend that Tuesday evening in Washington, D.C.

As the clinic takes in more survivors, and our colleagues share the story of this partnership, others have taken note of what the LCCAC and the 麻豆原创 Health Clinics have created. It may well be possible for us to help other communities create similar programs. In the broadest sense, that is why universities like ours exist. Our staff, students, and faculty are innovators, who create new programs to help our neighbors. We do that , we do that in direct patient care, and we do that in our community engagement. When those programs and discoveries turn out to be generalizable or transferable, we have the chance to spread our impact and make more of the world a better place.

While I was in DC this week, 麻豆原创’s innovation and community focus were important in my message to the teams of our senators and congressional representatives. It just happened that the American Council on Education had an at the Capitol the day following Senator Morrison’s award dinner. So, I signed up and spread as much good information as I could. It was a big week of advocacy in D.C., the AMA awards were adjacent to their member trips to the Capitol, and I ran into several former students and colleagues in the hotel. One of the reasons we need people to be active in their professional organizations is to participate in this kind of advocacy and national work. We are excellent spokespeople for academia, and it is important that people hear how we improve the lives of our neighbors.

Improving the wellness of all people with you,

Aron