Rhode Island Public Health Association 

2020

John E. Fogarty Award:
Marti Rosenberg, MA

For her strong and effective advocacy for population health, especially among vulnerable populations.

Since April 2019, Marti Rosenberg has served as the Director of Policy, Planning, and Research for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, following her role as the Project Director of Rhode Island’s State Innovation Model Test Grant (SIM), which began in 2015.

Prior to her state service, Marti led the Healthcare Initiative at The Providence Plan, and served as Development Director for USAction, where she helped raised seed money for the advocacy for the Affordable Care Act. From 1996 to 2006, she led healthcare campaigns and advocacy helping create the Office of the Health Insurance Commissioner, win No Smoking in Workplaces, ensure RIte Care expansions and protections, and  mandate interpreter services in hospitals.

Marti also serves as an Adjunct Professor in Public Policy at Brown University and in the Masters of Public Health Program at the New England Institute of Technology.

Bertram Yaffe Award:

Megan L. Ranney MD MPH FACEP

For founding #GetUsPPE and as an outspoken advocate for gun safety, for outstanding leadership and advocacy for public health in Rhode Island and nationally

Jeffrey E. Dodge, DMD

For his tireless work in dental education and providing dental care for underserved populations in Rhode Island.

Jeffrey E. Dodge, DMD maintains a private practice in General Dentistry in Woonsocket, and in addition has been and continues to be active in the Public Health arena with his efforts to improve access to care to the most vulnerable of patients through his work at CareLink, where he attends to patients in congregate care settings, and also through his work with the Rhode Island Oral Association, which sponsors the RIMOM  annual free dental clinic.  

Dr. Dodge also sits on numerous state and national committees dedicated to increasing access to quality oral health care.

Meritorious Program Award:

Providence Community Health Centers, 

Andrew Saal, MD - Chelsea DePaula, MPH - Daniel McGuire

Dr. Saal is the Chief Medical Officer of the Providence Community Health Centers. He oversaw the agency’s transformation of eight primary care clinics to PCMH level 3 status. Dr. Saal has led the health center’s participation in Medicare and Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations since 2014.  

With a strong focus on population health, he helped launch the organization’s first Integrated Behavioral Health program, as well as nurse care management, community health workers, clinical informatics, primary care psychiatry, and a residency for family nurse practitioners.

Ms. De Paula serves as the Manager of Community Integration & Social Determinant of Health Strategy at the Providence Community Health Centers. She has spent the last four years at PCHC developing the Community Health Advocate program, leading the charge on the implementation of the social determinants of health screening tool and strengthening partnerships with community-based organization to address housing and food insecurity. 

Ms. De Paula is currently serving as a Co-PI on a research grant awarded by the UCSF to understand and explore why patients who identity they have social needs decline assistance.  

Mr. McGuire serves as the Director of Population Health at the Providence Community Health Centers. 

Dan has spent the last two years at PCHC developing and implementing tools for analyzing population health and creating programs to automate patient outreach and centralize care gap closure. Before that, Dan spent ten years running inpatient and outpatient medical specialty clinics at hospitals in Florida and Ohio, where he focused on building chronic care management programs and projecting specialty services into outpatient ambulatory clinics.

Owen Manahan Award:

Owen Manahan

For his outstanding initiative and creativity as a student leader for RIPHA.

Owen is a senior at the University of Rhode Island where he studies public health in the honors program. He works as a research assistant and an EMT. After graduation, he plans to obtain his MPH and maintain a focus in health-related social science research. 

Owen used his media skills to produce two videos, one describing RIPHA and the second for National Public Health Week.  For his work he received the national APHA Council of Affiliate’s Outstanding Student of the Year Award.