Our Partnerships for Early Childhood Development initiative connects pediatric practices at hospitals across the city to community organizations with the goal of addressing psychosocial risks to children from infancy to age five, a formative period shaping lifelong health and functioning.
The first phase of the project involved 11 hospitals and 18 community organizations. Participating practices screened all families of young patients for one or more risks—such as food insecurity, unsafe housing, and parental depression—and then connected families to social service organizations for help. United Hospital Fund, together with the Altman Foundation and The New York Community Trust, provided $703,062 in support. These funds included direct grants to the clinical-community teams and support for a learning collaborative that brought participants together to share best practices and experience. A UHF report, Clinical-Community Partnerships for Better Health: Observations from New York City’s Partnerships for Early Childhood Development Initiative, reviewed the progress and challenges of the project’s first year, during which teams screened 5,534 families.
United Hospital Fund has now launched a second phase of the project. The same three funders are providing $709,122 for grants to eight of the original participating hospitals and community partners to fine-tune and expand their work and to continue the collaborative learning sessions.
Suzanne C. Brundage is a public health and health care strategist committed to creating the conditions in which children and families thrive. She is the director of UHF’s Children’s Health Initiative, which was established to strengthen health care’s focus on health disparities rooted in childhood.
Through a dual focus on service delivery and policy, Suzanne has worked on a range of issues including social determinants of health and education; primary care; Medicaid; and substance use disorders. She is a trusted collaborator, thought partner, and consensus builder for many organizations and individuals nationwide focused on strengthening systems for families. She was named the first Patricia S. Levinson Fellow at UHF for her work to improve health care for vulnerable populations.
Before working at UHF, Suzanne was the assistant director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. She has worked with a wide range of health nonprofits and safety net institutions, including Healing Through Remembering in Northern Ireland, Catholic AIDS Action in Namibia, Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, and Boston Medical Center. Suzanne is a member of the Bennington College Board of Trustees and the national Children’s Health Leadership Network. In 2018, she was named to City & State New York’s “40 Under 40” list and Crain’s New York’s list of 100 notable women in health care.
She holds a BA from Bennington College in conflict resolution and international affairs and an MS in health policy and management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Lee, who joined UHF in 2016, provides research and policy analysis support to projects focusing on children and families.
Before UHF Lee was Medicaid Director of the District of Columbia; health policy advisor for the National Partnership for Women and Families; staff director of the National Association of State Medicaid Directors; staff director of the Committee on Human Resources, D.C. City Council; and a member of the personal staff of U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits. She has served on committees of the National Quality Forum, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She was the first public member of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies.
Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College.
Chad Shearer is UHF’s senior vice president for policy and program, overseeing UHF’s work across the coverage and access, quality and efficiency, and clinical-community partnerships focus areas, as well as UHF conferences and grantmaking.
Before joining UHF in 2014, Chad was at the Princeton School of Public & International Affairs, where he was deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health Reform Assistance Network, a project coordinating technical assistance to 11 states on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion provisions. He was also a lecturer in public affairs at Princeton, teaching a capstone policy workshop. Chad has served as a senior program officer at the Center for Health Care Strategies, where he helped shape its Medicaid Leadership Institute, an intensive training program for selected state Medicaid directors. He was served as the legislative director for Congressman Pete Stark, Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Chad holds both a law degree and a Master of Health Administration from the University of Iowa.
Hollis coordinates the review of grant proposals; ensures that applicants comply with UHF proposal submission requirements, including proof of nonprofit status; and assists in preparing materials for proposal review by the Program Committee. In coordination with UHF staff she solicits grantee performance and financial reports, monitors grantee compliance with administrative requirements, and works with the UHF Business Office to make grantee payments. Hollis also coordinates all UHF in-person conferences, including the annual Medicaid Conference and the Annual Research Symposium, and coordinates publicity and speaker information for virtual conferences
Before joining UHF in 2002, Hollis managed annual conferences for the Association of American University Presses. She also edited its quarterly newsletter, edited and supervised production of annual membership directory, and managed the annual university press operating survey and compensation survey program.
Hollis holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley. She is a board member and member of the chorus of the Park Slope Singers.