Be Healthy: National Health Survey Gives Bronx a Checkup

For the first time in more than 20 years, a national study that measures the health and nutrition status of Americans across the country has set its sights on the Bronx, which is consistently ranked as one of the unhealthiest counties in the nation.

Health Matters

Upcoming health-related events, programs and announcements.

A Local Haven for Abused Children in the Bronx

Every day, the staff at the J.E. and Z.B. Butler Child Advocacy Center must face grim realities that most people find hard to hear or stomach: the stories of physically and sexually abused or neglected children, stories often marked by bruises and broken bones.

State Budget Saves Some, Cuts Others

New Governor Andrew Cuomo and the legislature in Albany officially passed a state budget at the end of March, a day before the start of the new fiscal year. It marked the first time in five years that a budget has been approved in New York before its April 1 deadline and will eliminate a $10 billion deficit, Cuomo boasted in a press release. For the Bronx, the $132.5 million budget contains a mix of ups and downs. Certain funding that was on the chopping block was restored, while other cuts will mean major setbacks for a number of agencies, social service programs and local organizations.

Montefiore Enacts Expanded No-Smoking Policy

Like many longtime smokers, Jarrel Jackson wants to quit smoking. Fortunately for his sake, so does Montefiore Medical Center, his employer and the largest employer in the Bronx, which recently expanded its No Smoking zones and is now offering smoking cessation resources for its employees.

Be Healthy! Q&A: New Study Looks at Housing’s Link to Health

Fordham University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine are collaborating on a study that examines the connection between housing and health in the Bronx. The Affordable HOME Study, which launched last year, is looking to find out how different housing environments affect the health outcomes of the borough’s Latino population. This week, Be Healthy! sat down with Einstein’s Dr. Earle Chambers, a principal investigator on the study, to find out more.

A Year After Tragedy, Megan Charlop’s Work Endures

On the day she died, Megan Charlop was riding her bicycle to PS 55 in Claremont, on her way to the elementary school’s summer camp fair. The event was one of many projects Charlop spearheaded as the director of Community Health at Montefiore Medical Center’s School Health Program, and one close to her heart, her colleagues say—part of an effort to set local children up with free or low-cost camp programs.

Be Healthy: Q&A with Dr. Larisa Shpitalnik

Unless you’ve suffered from one yourself, you may not be familiar with so-called “chronic wounds” — ulcers, sores or other ailments on the skin that won’t heal. The medical condition, however, is increasingly common, as the population ages and the number of new diabetes cases continue to rise. This week, Be Healthy! sat down with Dr. Larisa Shpitalnik, of Montefiore Medical Center’s Wound Healing Program, to learn a little more about the condition.