East Hill: Auburn panel asks men to make their health a bigger priority (2024)

Trish Kerr, special to The Citizen

“I’m here to tell you the brevity of life is like a vapor. You could be here one moment and gone the next.”

The Rev. Robert Wilson, pastor at Roosevelt Memorial Baptist Church and chair of the Auburn Human Rights Commission, spoke at the Men’s Health Panel sponsored by East Hill Medical Center on June 10 at Auburn Public Theater.

Sharing the stage was Ted Freeman of Free ‘EM Ministries; Bill Berry, a member of the city’s Human Rights Commission and founder and CEO of aaduna; Demetrius Murphy, vice president of business development at Lyons National Bank; and Dr. Adam Duckett, East Hill’s chief medical officer. A candid conversation unfolded about men’s health, the importance of catching issues early and having a relationship with primary care.

Berry set the stage in his opening remarks: “The reality is, I am you and you are me,” he said. “As we go through this evening, we’re going to talk about some issues that we hope will help frame what you do in the future. And what you do with a loved one in terms of advising them in the future.”

Rev. Wilson advocated that annual wellness checks, prostate exams and simple blood tests are essential “if we want to watch our children graduate, if we want to live a healthy, prosperous life.” Murphy added, “You always have to advocate for yourself whenever you’re talking to your physicians.”

Some of the panelists shared observations and comments about their experiences as aging men.

“I grew up on Chapman Avenue in the '50s and '60s ... watching great men with little education, little opportunities go to some of the hardest places in this town to work. I watched them struggle and I watched them die early,” Freeman recalled. “They weren’t going to the doctors because someone might need a new pair of shoes in the family. ... For a Black man if he made it to 60, he hit the jackpot.”

The panelists acknowledged changes over the years to help address barriers, pointing to Simone Callendar, a health insurance navigator in the audience from FidelisCare who helps enroll people in affordable health insurance. Dr. Duckett stated, “I want people to understand that health care is obtainable, its safe and your body is very important. You have family members and friends who love you, and it’s always good to be tested.”

East Hill Medical Center staff member Eric Eisenberg was on the planning committee for the event. He explained his interest in creating opportunity for the panelists to speak openly about their health: “I feel it’s very important that conversations about men’s health come to the forefront,” he said. “Isolation and silence cause people to neglect their health, which leads to poor health outcomes.”

Eisenberg shared that he found a lot of value from the event and reflected on what he heard to start conversation with his friends in the weeks following.

“If you start the conversation, sometimes that’s all it takes to make others comfortable talking about their experiences. It can be as simple as, ‘I was thinking about going to the doctor but I don’t know where I should go,’” he said. “Or sharing positive experiences to encourage people to begin thinking different about when and why to go to primary care.”

East Hill president and CEO April Miles was part of the planning committee and helped champion the event, which included several East Hill board members. “We take every opportunity to work on diversity, equity and inclusion projects related to health disparities,” she said. Abby Gunger, East Hill’s chief clinical officer agreed: “Getting people in for care is our No. 1 goal.”

The panelists are committed to continuing the conversation at future events and getting more people involved.

“If there are issues that you feel we need to address that are of importance, let us know,” Berry said. “Ultimately, it’s about the community and not any individual person.”

Freeman offered some final words of wisdom.

“You can look at health issues the same way you look at a Bible. You can treat health issues as a window where you look out of it and you say, look at those folks, they have this problem and that problem. Or you can treat it as a mirror and say, 'I better take care of this and take care of that.' It’s about time for us to get out of the window and spend more time in the mirror.”