By NELSON A. KING From Caribbean Life

Brooklyn’s Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center says its Best Health School, along with the Brooklyn-based Action, Performance, Commitment (APC) Community Services, will host a Caribbean Health Summit at the hospital on Oct. 9.

According to Enid Dillard, Director of Marketing and Public Affairs at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, the summit will address “the unique health care needs and the cultural sensitivities of our Caribbean residents.”

She said the summit, which starts at 10 am and ends at 2 pm, “will address these practice gaps.”

It will also address “key issues for medical practitioners, who provide care to Caribbean populations,” Dillard said.

She said the summit will take place at Kingsbrook’s main campus in the Lillian Minkin Ballroom, 585 Schenectady Avenue, between Winthrop Street & Rutland Road.

A joint flyer by Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center and APC Community Services, headed by Guyanese-born Dr. Janice Emanuel-McClean, indicates that Dr. K. Torian Easterling, Assistant Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, will be the keynote speaker.

Topics to be covered at the summit include: Mental health, immigration, opioid addition and gun violence.

“The Caribbean community is a significant part of Central Brooklyn’s population and suffers disproportionately from a myriad of health conditions, such as chronic diseases, infectious diseases and mental health issues,” the statement said.

“In effort to help reduce these health disparities, medical providers must look to cultural competency and education to provide the most comprehensive, effective care to this segment of the community,” it added.

The summit’s target audience comprises healthcare providers — physicians, mid-level clinicians, nurses and allied health professionals — in the New York City metropolitan area, who provide medical care to Caribbean and Caribbean American populations.

To register, please call (718) 604-5062.

IMAGE: https://www.kingsbrook.org