Share This
Mark Jones, director of community impact and diversity programs at Allegheny Health Network
“Every COVID-19 shot counts. It’s not about the volume of doses distributed at the community-based clinics, it’s about providing access to quality health care,” says Mark Jones, director of community impact and diversity programs at Allegheny Health Network (AHN).
As part of AHN’s commitment to ensuring all communities have equal access to the COVID-19 vaccine, and in partnership with the TRAC Services for Families, the network is hosting a series of community-based vaccine clinics set in hair salons, bars, restaurants and other community gathering places.
See some of the people and places involved in the first set of events in the video below.
Rena Halsel: If there's anything that we can do to get our community healthy, I’m going to do it. We all want to work together.
Chandi Chapman: Today there was a vaccine clinic at Vickey’s Soul Grille in Penn Hills.
Dr. Jacqueline Wilson: We wanted to be able to eliminate the barriers to getting a vaccine. Oftentimes you have to go far away, you have to get on the bus, or you have to have access to transportation.
Community Member: I know there were different clinics but I couldn’t get the time of day to come do it.
Community Member 2: Yea, because I got my first two at CVS and that was kind of hard to schedule those ones also because everyone was getting it.
Dr. Jacqueline Wilson: Our goal was to help move the needle in the Black community. We have access that’s walkable right in the community where they live. So, we're doing bars, lounges, restaurants, hair salons and barber shops, taking the vaccine to the people. People shouldn’t have to go outside of their neighborhood to get something that's so impactful for the community.
Jamie Younger: Look man, we’ve been through a lot the last couple of years with this whole pandemic. Let’s get the country back on track. Come down, get vaccinated. Let's get to the end the endemic.
Lynne Bergh: This is getting to the people that couldn’t get to those big clinics, or those big clinics were so far away that now they're waiting for their booster and they have no place to go. So coming to the people is wonderful.
Dr. Jacqueline Wilson: One shot is a success, because every person that were able to get vaccinated is one more person that's protected and that’s one more person that is protecting the community.
Lynne Bergh: It's the most rewarding thing in the world. It really is.
Rena Halsel: We're a business that is open to the public. We deal with a lot of different people and I just want our community to be healthy.
To learn more about this outreach effort, known as “Power Hour and Cut to the Chase,” I sat down with Mark Jones to find out how AHN is reaching minority and underserved communities.
Catherine Clements: Since the COVID-19 vaccine became available, AHN has been a leader in its distribution — hosting some of western Pennsylvania’s largest mass vaccine clinics. But we knew that those large-scale events could not capture all eligible individuals. Can you tell me more about AHN’s grassroots efforts?
Mark Jones: Absolutely. While our large events were well attended, a variety of factors prevented folks from getting vaccinated — whether it be transportation or childcare needs, work obligations or vaccine hesitancy. Many individuals are not going to leave their neighborhood for health care, so the challenge for AHN is to meet people where they live, work and play.
People who are uninsured or underinsured are often disengaged from their health. Establishing a presence in underserved and minority neighborhoods enables AHN to not only vaccinate several thousand individuals, but also to encourage preventative care, connecting attendees with health care providers and Federally Qualified Health Centers.
Through the “Power Hour and Cut to the Chase” campaign we’ve hosted hundreds of clinics, reaching thousands of individuals. From my experience, most of these people wouldn’t have been protected if the vaccine was not available in their neighborhood.
Catherine Clements: How does AHN identify which communities to reach out to?
Mark Jones: We tap partners with boots on the ground. Groups like Afro American Strategic Partnership and A Second Chance are instrumental in helping us identify bars, restaurants and barbershops where AHN can host vaccine clinics. The trust from these community leaders and business owners is the bridge that enables us to educate and vaccinate.
Catherine Clements: How does AHN ensure attendees received an equitable health experience?
Mark Jones: Wherever people get vaccinated, we provide a quality health experience with professional clinicians who put the patient and their unique needs first. We realize some people haven’t received shots in years, and maybe they’ve had a traumatic experience — or no experience. That’s why we partner with Bethany Community Ministries, an organization in Homewood that provides diverse nurses, doctors and pharmacists to help staff these clinics. This is essential in ensuring attendees feel safe and comfortable in our clinics.
Catherine Clements: That sounds like an excellent playbook for how to mitigate disease and bring health care to underserved communities in general. What’s next for AHN?
Mark Jones: AHN will continue this effort as long as people need to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Currently, we are working with the city of Pittsburgh to administer booster shots to senior high-rise communities.
Our hope is to leverage our learnings from this effort to address other chronic illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure. We look forward to continuing to proactively engage in the health of our communities.
Mark Jones is the director of community impact and diversity programs for Allegheny Health Network’s Equitable Health Institute. In this role, he leads the health system’s programming to address health equity, improve internal quality, and eliminate health disparities in underserved neighborhoods. Programming includes community-based screenings and vaccinations, expanded workforce partnerships, and the implementation of the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistic Appropriate Services (CLAS).
Prior to this role, Mark was the manager of strategic partnerships for Highmark Health. He was responsible for leading the community engagement on the building of an Academic Cancer Center at Allegheny General Hospital, implementation of a strategic master plan, the development of a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) and spearheading workforce initiatives with educational partners (academic and public schools) to develop employment pipelines and career ladders in health care. He was also responsible for managing a portfolio of grants and sponsorships in corporate giving which included corporate tax credit programs for community development and educational institutions and special health and wellness initiatives as well as general grant support.
Mark has over 25 years of experience in community organization, business financing and grant writing. Prior to joining Highmark Health, Mark was employed at the Allegheny County Chief Executive’s Office as an Executive Staff for Community Initiatives, where he played a major role in a number of high-level public/private initiatives, including the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), a City of Pittsburgh–Allegheny County initiative that secured resources for the Hill District during the construction of the Console Energy Center. He co-chaired the UPMC Braddock Hospital Working Group that redeveloped the hospital site into a $25 million health and training center, and also served as co-chair of the Mon Fayette Expressway Working Group that partnered with the PA Turnpike Commission to raise funding to alleviate traffic in the eastern part of the county.
Mark also worked as the Assistant Business Development Manager with the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, where he managed the TEAM PA Business Calling Program, a state-wide program that interfaces with 100 local businesses to determine their business expansion and retention needs. He managed a number of notable projects, including the $15 million dollar expansion of American Textile Company in Duquesne and the $3 million dollar expansion of Tsudis Chocolate Company in O’Hara Township. Mark was successful in 2006 closing more than 50 loans to small businesses throughout Allegheny County affected by Hurricane Ivan.
Mark was an integral member of the Office of the Mayor City of Pittsburgh economic development staff, where he provided system coordination for small business, facilitated site assembly for potential development projects, and coordinated opportunities for procurement, tax credits, financial assistance and other services available for start-up and existing businesses.
Mark also served as the Assistant Weed & Seed Coordinator for the Mayor, assisting in writing federal grants, providing compliance and monitoring.
Mark holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership from Geneva College and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Mark also has received professional certifications in Economic Development Finance from the National Development Council, Community Organization from the University of Pittsburgh-School of Social Work and a DEI certification from Northwestern University. Mark had the opportunity to sit on the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board, Shuman Juvenile Detention Center, the Industrial Development Authority Board for Allegheny County, and the State of PA Workforce Investment Board on behalf of the County Executive. He currently serves on the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Board, Mount Ararat Baptist Church Community Activity Center, North Side Leadership Conference, SBC Ministries Inc. and the A Philip Randolph Institute for Workforce Development.
Mark lives in the Observatory Hill section of the City of Pittsburgh along with his wife Erika and two daughters Sabrina and Ella Kate.
Highmark Health and its subsidiaries and affiliates comprise a national blended health organization that employs more than 42,000 people and serves millions of Americans across the country.
Entire contents © Highmark Health. All Rights Reserved.
Highmark Health is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
Need to find info about providers, prescriptions, coverage, claims, ID cards, or health spending or savings accounts? If so, your Highmark member site is the place to go. (It’s separate from this blog.)