Kick-Off Success

I’m very happy to report that attendance at this year’s Kick-Off to a Safe Summer and Mercy Flight Open House was highest we’ve seen since the event began in 2010. Once again, Southern Tier Health Care System teamed up with Mercy Flight of Western New York to organize and host the event. Kick-Off to a Safe Summer is designed to prepare parents and children for a fun, safe summer. There were more than 300 children in attendance along with their parents and family members. We held a drawing to give away a boy’s bicycle and a girl’s bicycle. Dana Boser, an Olean bicyclist who survived a crash with a pickup truck due to an $18 helmet, shared his story with children and adults. St. Bonaventure University Senior Anna Martin of the Safe Teen Coalition flew in from Chicago to set up a bicycle safety town for children to ride through. Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Baldwin fitted more than 100 children with bicycle helmets that were donated by Sheriff Tim Whitcomb. The Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Health conducted a child car-seat safety check and gave away new child car seats to anyone who needed them. The Sheriff’s Office also made Child Safe ID cards during the event. The YMCA gave away a free week of Y camp and Olean General Hospital gave sun safety demonstrations and nutrition demonstrations. I'm grateful that so many people attended and enjoyed our Kick-Off to a Safe Summer. I want to thank Mercy Flight and all of our partners for making the event such as success.

Leading Change

I attended a Health Leadership Fellows “Leading Change” retreat earlier this week along with other members of the Health Leadership Fellows fifth class cohort. Topics included acting as a catalyst for positive change, fostering a strategic vision, power and leadership and the power of the individual. We also discussed how to recognize when outside help is needed, how to sculpt a project to move from vision to action and evaluating capacity to create change. Our teams also presented project proposals and benefitted from the expertise and advice of our Fellowship classmates and lecturers regarding the proposals. I found the seminar very beneficial. I want to thank the Board of Directors for allowing me to be a part of the Health Leadership Fellows program. I also want to thank the Health Foundation for Western and Central New York for creating the Health Leadership Fellows. This is a great opportunity to meet and work with other health-care leaders, build on each other’s strengths and improve the health of everyone in our region.