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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Lawrence Norman, Program Manager of Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center
7:53:15
ยท
139 sec
Lawrence Norman, Program Manager at Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center, testified about the need for increased funding in public health programs, particularly for staff education and retention. He emphasized the challenges of managing multiple programs with limited resources and the importance of competitive salaries to retain qualified staff.
- Norman oversees viral hepatitis, access health, and ETE programs, as well as assists with the disease prevention grant.
- He highlighted the need for more funding to train and retain health educators, noting it takes about six months to fully train someone.
- Norman advocated for better compensation for health service providers, stating that the cost of living is too high for current salaries.
Lawrence Norman
7:53:15
I guess thing don't move.
7:53:20
Good now evening committee.
7:53:24
My name is Lawrence Norman.
7:53:26
I'm the program manager for Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center wellness department.
7:53:33
I oversee the programs of viral hepatitis, access health, and ETE programs.
7:53:41
And everything that they've said all day was true.
7:53:45
We do need a lot of funding because not only am I program managing these types of programs, I'm also assistant program manager for the disease prevention grant as well.
7:53:58
It goes to show we're tiny but mighty crew, but we do need more funding to be able to meet the competitive nature of this field.
7:54:08
We're getting people that are educated to enter inside of our arena as well.
7:54:14
It's not just about outreach, it's about community.
7:54:17
And a part of that community is having them, educate people throughout, this process.
7:54:25
And for me, if I educate a person, because I'm also the educator of the clinic too, I teach I educate people on HIV testing, outreach, all the different strategies, and I also educate the directors, the supervisors.
7:54:39
It doesn't matter who it is.
7:54:40
That's one of the many hats in which we have been forced to wear because of the many years of not having the exponential growth in our funding and a competitive salary for people to be able to train.
7:54:55
It takes about six months to actually train a health educator.
7:55:00
And if we don't get more people to educate the folks, the ones in which we have, I do believe, actually may have to go away because the cost of living is a bit a bit too high.
7:55:12
And, I advocate for those people because all day, my people been advocating for people that need services.
7:55:18
Well, the people that actually do the services need the service as well.
7:55:21
And with that Tom, I thank you and I would like to say one thing too.
7:55:24
Thank you all for staying so long.
7:55:30
I loved it.
7:55:31
I loved the whole thing.
7:55:32
This was so nice.
7:55:33
I loved this.
7:55:33
This was the best one.