The Department of Emergency Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center has received a $352,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Health to address Health Equity for COVID Prevention. The funding will support a pilot study focused on COVID risk factors in patients with chronic diseases and behavioral health concerns who come into Emergency Departments in six hospitals in the Hackensack Meridian Health network.
The initiative — led by Chinwe Ogedegbe, MD, MPH, FACEP, professor of Emergency Medicine, in collaboration with Ramon Solhkhah, MD, chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore Medical Center, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and Pediatrics, Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine — will facilitate the continuation of related work that has already been under way at Hackensack Meridian Health.
The funding will enable patients to be linked to Tobacco Quit Centers, the state Tobacco Quitline, and relevant social services as well as to behavioral health and primary care providers.