Sun River Health Hosts Climate and Health Equity in Action Event in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Sun River Health, a health care provider with sites throughout the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island, was proud to host an ecoAmerica Climate and Health Equity in Action event on Wednesday, September 25 at their health center on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. Panelists Anne Kauffman Nolon, MPH, CEO of Sun River Health, Zoya Teirstein, Staff Write at Grist, Jessica Hinshaw, Environmental Health Director of the National Association of Community Health Centers, Ben Fulgencio-Turner, Director of Climate for Health at ecoAmerica, and Katherine Catalano, Deputy Director of the Center for Climate & Health Equity at the American Public Health Association, gathered together to discuss climate solutions that center on the needs of low-income and marginalized communities who are the most vulnerable in the face of the climate change crisis.

Climate change poses a number of impacts on health, including heat related illness and death; cardiovascular failure; forced migration; mental health impacts; malnutrition and gastro-intestinal disease; water-borne disease; respiratory disease, including asthma and allergies; and vector-borne disease, including malaria, Lyme disease, and West Nile virus. The national cost of continued climate change inaction could be up to $820 billion annually.

With over 86% of community health center patients living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, Anne Kauffman Nolon shared the pledge of the Sun River Health Board of Directors to do their part to meet the challenge posed by climate change by reducing their own climate footprint, preparing for climate impacts, and leading the way to a low carbon future.

To see the livestreamed recording of the event, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FhA_qcy5co 

About Sun River Health

Sun River Health is a network of 50 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) providing primary, dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and behavioral health care to over 250,000 patients annually. With a dedicated staff of 2,000 doctors, nurses, and health care professionals, we pride ourselves on delivering high-quality, affordable care to those who need it most. Sun River Health started in 1975 when four African American mothers started efforts to open our first health center in Peekskill, New York to deliver accessible, high-quality, affordable health care services to patients in need – no matter their race, religion, income, or insurance status. Today, after more than 45 years of service, Sun River Health is still delivering on that promise to communities across the Hudson Valley, New York City, and Long Island.

sunriver.org

For more information, contact:
Jeffrey Palmer
917-692-9174 / jpalmer@sunriver.org

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SOURCE Sun River Health