Leader
Speaker
Advocate
Researcher
About Me
Leader
I am the Executive Director for Population Health at Spectrum Health Lakeland (SHL) in St. Joseph, Michigan. In this role, I support strategic efforts to improve the health of the regional population.
Since 2018, I have been a commissioner of the city of St. Joseph. I am also a member of the Downtown Development Planning Committee and I have served on a number of boards within our community, including the Edgewater Bank Board, Benton Harbor Promise Zone, the Berrien County Mental Health Authority, and Cornerstone Alliance.
In 2018, I received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Culture of Health Leadership award. This leadership program is for people working in a wide variety of professionals seeking to build a Culture of Health. For more about the Culture Health Leadership program, please visit https://cultureofhealth-leaders.org/
Speaker
I’ve been a keynoter, a panelist, and a moderator at conferences throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe on topics including social exclusion, the social determinants of mental health, mental health impact assessment, and health equity as well as social problems such as poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, incarceration, violence, homelessness. For a list of select presentations please see my CV.
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Advocate
I am passionate about population health and, in particular, the health marginalized and disadvantaged communities. To that end, I have served on the boards of such organizations such as Sergeant Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, and the Heartland Alliance for Human Rights and Human Needs.
I have written a number of opinion pieces including:
Berrien County children are suffering their own ‘invisible’ traumas. Herald Palladium. June 2018
In the wake of Flint crisis, are we asking the right questions? Guest Column, Herald Palladium February 21, 2016.
The overlooked effect of ‘criminal records’ on the unemployed. Chicago Crain’s “Morning 10.” June 6, 2013.
Arson: Blue-collar America is burning. Flint Journal. April 8, 2013.
Modern life is killing us. salon.com. August 11, 2012.
New EEOC guidelines on discrimination based on arrests, convictions bring hope to some communities. Chicago Reporter. May 9, 2012.
Arrests and Hiring. New York Times. Editorial Page. May 6, 2012.
Depiction of Englewood isn’t Fair. Chicago Sun-Times. October 2011.
Researcher
We are working to determine the impact that both Community
Grand Rounds and Brave Talks are having on our community at large. This research leverages my role as a Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Leader.
Previously, I examined the relationship between diet and anti-social behaviors among youth. I did this work to determine whether living in a food desert (one of the many social determinants of health) might be a factor contributing to community violence. I am currently developing research around other social determinants of health, such as employment, income, education and housing.
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In the News
We are living in extraordinary times: This micro blog is dedicated to the musings and informative materials to help us navigate a post covid-19 world.
– David Williams
Community Grand Rounds (CGR)
Our Story
Launched in 2018, Community Grand Rounds (CGR) hosts local and nationally recognized speakers who discuss the issues of health equity and population health. Speakers address the health implications of racism as well as the emerging sciences of epigenetics and social genomics. The events are designed for professionals in medicine, allied health fields, and social work, as well as government leaders and community members.
Visit the Community Grand Rounds Speaker Series
Community Grand Rounds (CGR) is an effort to raise awareness and understanding of this new science and its implications for health. In a series of speakers and discussions, Spectrum’s clinicians, administrators, and board members, as well as government and community leaders will learn from experts about the impact of racism on health. The goal is to inform and to set the stage for further discussions and actions leading to improved health outcomes across the population served by Spectrum Health Lakeland.
One Street Two Worlds
Community Grand Rounds has a mission to heal the trauma of racism through education and awareness. Watch this video as Dr. Loren Hamel
https://youtu.be/7GAFL_Q0Zao
Why Are Things the Way They Are?
Community Grand Rounds has a mission to heal the trauma of racism through education and awareness. Watch this video as Dr. Lynn Todman interviews Dr. David Ansell and asks about the double dynamic of race and poverty. David Ansell is the author of “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills” and co-author of “County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago’s Public Hospital.”
https://youtu.be/ip3lBdT79uE
Facts Matter
What is the impact of stress on health?
Tasha N. Turner, MA, LLPC, Program Director, Trauma Informed Initiatives discusses our physical response to stress.
What is the body's response to stress?
Our physical well-being is reliant on our mental and emotional state.
Health Inequities in Berrien County, Mi
The Community Grand Rounds Initiative requires the use of a health equity lens to identify and address the impact of institutional policies on health inequalities. The statistics support this focus.
Everyday Discrimination and Metabolic Syndrome - Racially Diverse Women's Health. Beatty (2018)
For every 1 point increase in discrimination score, 3% increase in incidence of Metabolic Syndrome (hypertension, obesity, lipids).
Discrimination and Cardiovascular Risk in Low-Income African American Youth. Goosby (2015)
Increase in perceived discrimination among youth aged 10-15 significantly associated with higher inflammatory markers and onset of hypertension.
Discrimination and Depression among African American Men. Wheaton (2018)
The acclaimed author of A Raisin in the Sun and civil rights activist, Lorraine Hansberry, died of pancreatic cancer at age 34 in 1965. At her funeral, author James Baldwin said: “It is not at all farfetched to suspect that what she saw contributed to the strain which killed her, for the effort to which Lorraine was dedicated is more than enough to kill a man.”
Stories
What is Community Grand Rounds?
Dr. Lynn Todman shares how “CGR” became a speaker’s series designed to deepen the understanding of how racism impacts the health in communities of color.
What inspired Community Grand Rounds?
Spurred on by the findings of Lakeland Health’s Community Needs Assessment, Todman found significant health disparities in the region that she wanted to delve into further.
What can people expect to take away from CGR?
Todman shares she wants people to walk away with increased awareness around the following:
- There is no biological basis for the concept of race
- Racism is a form of psychological trauma
- Like all forms of trauma the toxic impacts are preventable.
Interview with Dr. Bechara Coucair
Kaiser Permanente’s Dr. Bechara Coucair interviewed by Spectrum Health Lakeland’s Norma Tirado on what matters most to community health.
Does a better diet lead to better behavior?
While the science indicates that it does, children in one Benton Harbor, Michigan, school helped to demonstrate the link between better mental health and a food palate that involves less sugar, preservatives, trans fats and other additives and more fish, whole grains and green leafy vegetables. During the 12-week project, the students at Sorter ate meals based on scientific studies over the past 20 years that show a strong correlation between diets high in omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins and other essential nutrients help to reduce aggressive and anti-social behavior. Here’s what we learned from Sorter School’s staff and project leads.
Let's talk about health
Here are some interesting and important TED Talks on the subject of racism and its impact on health. The first is by Dr. David Williams, our July 2018 Community Grand Rounds speaker.
Podcast
The new field of epigenetics sees that genes can be turned on and off and expressed differently through changes in environment and behavior. Rachel Yehuda is a pioneer in understanding how the effects of stress and trauma can transmit biologically, beyond cataclysmic events, to the next generation. [Listen to her podcast here]
David Williams Live Stream CGR Event
Understanding The Health Consequences Of Racism & What You Can Do About It. July 10, 2018 10:00 am to 11:30 am
Blog
Fragments from a Courageous Conversation
Don Campbell / HP staff Trish Adams, left, and Dana Humes, right, join "Tiger Moms" as they serve the Benton Harbor High School varsity football team a pre-game meal of chicken, pasta, garlic bread, fruit, and dessert Friday, October 9, 2015, at Benton Harbor High...
‘White Saviors? — or Just Well-Meaning?
Benton Harbor head coach Elliot Uzelac speaks with his team after practice on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016 in Benton Harbor, Mich. (Bryan Bennett | MLive.com) Story of Black Team’s Miracle Turnaround Provokes Myriad Feelings During a ‘Courageous Conversation’ ST. JOSEPH,...
The Pot’s About to Boil in Berrien County. Keep the Heat Up, Britten Says
BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – How do you help move thousands of people toward healthier lives? And how do you encourage people across the black-and-white racial chasm to work together to help reduce health inequities? These are daunting goals, and not for the fainthearted....
Talking, in Black and White
Health Officer Britten Says Candid Talk about Race Can Spark Empathy and Action to Fix Health Inequities BENTON HARBOR, Mich. – Most adults in the U.S. probably know about “The Talk” black parents have with their teenage sons. This is the protective advice designed to...
Closing ‘The Death Gap’
Dr. David Ansell likes to say he practiced internal medicine for decades along “one street” but in “two worlds.” The street is Ogden Avenue, which links Chicago neighborhoods of great wealth, and correspondingly long lifespans, with poor neighborhoods and far shorter lifespans. One world is predominantly white, the other predominantly black and brown.
Hospitals Have Many Tools for Making Communities Healthier
The slide on the screen in the auditorium shows a young black male. Dr. David Ansell says he is 16, lives on the West Side of Chicago and has only about a 50 percent chance of living to age 65.
Why is that? Ansell asks.
What Can We Do?
Harvard sociologist David Williams offered many ways people can fight back against institutional racism and implicit bias and make a healthier social environment for all people. His suggestions range from little daily acts to big reforms.
A Psychiatric Nurse and Public Health Professor React to Williams’ Presentations
Linnea is a psychiatric nurse for Lakeland Health system. What Harvard sociologist David Williams said in his July 10 morning presentation in St. Joseph, Mich., shook her up and opened her eyes to her own racial prejudices.
Systemic Racism Adds Another Layer of Trauma for Many People; Therapist Calls it ‘A Public Health Crisis’
As a program director, Turner, a psychotherapist, directs trauma-informed initiatives for Lakeland Health, the health care system that serves Berrien County in southwest Michigan. In that role Turner is looking at the lives of many tens of thousands of people. It is a county polarized by race and economic disparities—and big gaps in health outcomes between blacks and whites. The view from Turner’s Lakeland perch is necessarily disturbing.
Gallery
"Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity."
Contact
Todman: A healthy community equals a thriving community
Spectrum Health Lakeland’s racial equity initiative being fleshed out.
https://www.heraldpalladium.com/news/todman-a-healthy-community-equals-a-thriving-community/article_34274349-270b-5b0d-a395-7a6fd7faa312.html
Big step forward in MI https://lynntodman.org/response-to-governor-gretchen-whitmer-executive-directive/
Powerful Panel - https://www.facebook.com/WomenEmployed/videos/578174846212271/
