From Grateful Patient to Fulfilled Medical Assistant
Spotlight on Jairo Hernandez During Medical Assistant Recognition Week Jairo Hernandez, a certified medical assistant at Zufall Health, vividly remembers the moment he chose to pursue a career in health care. At six years old, he witnessed a group of doctors visiting his remote Honduran community to provide essential medical care. With no nearby hospitals, many residents had never seen a doctor before. The gratitude of his neighbors, receiving urgent care,...
Shape Your Community, Shape Your Health: Vote!
Did you know that voting is considered a social driver of health by many leading medical institutions? By participating in the electoral process, we make choices about policies related to our health: health insurance, education, clean water, childcare, green spaces, and more. As a grant recipient of the 2024 Vot-ER program, Zufall Health is integrating civic engagement into the health care environment ahead of the November 5 election. Vot-ER is a...
WISEWOMAN Drives Healthier Hearts and Lives
For more than 100 years, the nation’s leading cause of death has been heart disease – a range of chronic conditions that includes coronary artery disease, heart failure, arrhythmias, and valvular heart disease. Heart disease claims nearly 700,000 lives each year in the U.S. At the local level, heart disease remains a high priority clinical issue for hospitals and health departments, who look to safety net organizations like Zufall for...
Why Public Health AmeriCorps Member Geralda Francois Is Committed to Her Community’s Health
When Zufall AmeriCorps member Geralda Francois was 15 years old, her life was upended by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. Considered one of the biggest natural disasters in recorded history, the 2010 earthquake claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Francois remembers that for the millions of survivors, the public health impact was devastating. “Before the earthquake, most people couldn’t get adequate health care, unless they were very wealthy or left...
Rina Ramirez, MD, Contributes to New Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Report
Community health centers (CHCs) across the U.S. have a new blueprint for providing sexual and reproductive health services to adolescents, thanks to a team of experts that includes Zufall Health Chief Medical Officer and Internal Medicine Physician Rina Ramirez, MD. Ramirez was selected as a key contributor to “Q4T (Quality for Teens): A Quality Improvement Package for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Care". A quality improvement package is a set of...
Meet Your Provider: Katheryn Grajales, PA-C
Katheryn Grajales, PA-C, thrives on teamwork at Zufall Health - Morristown. As a physician assistant (PA), Grajales collaborates closely with colleagues, patients, and families to deliver comprehensive care for vulnerable individuals and families. Grajales particularly enjoys engaging in dynamic discussions with her colleagues. Together, they explore ideas, theories, and diagnoses to develop effective treatment plans and facilitate access to resources for their patients. Partnering with patients and their loved ones is equally...
For AmeriCorps Member Kiara Isaza, Maternal Health Advocacy is a Year-Round Effort
Aspiring obstetrician-gynecologist (OB/GYN) Kiara Isaza is a Public Health AmeriCorps member in Zufall Health’s West Orange prenatal program. Recently, for Maternal Health Awareness Day (MHAD), Isaza and prenatal staff provided critical self-advocacy resources to pregnant patients—an experience she says she’ll be carrying with her to medical school and beyond. Like all teams at Zufall, the prenatal program works hard to bridge gaps in health care access and reduce disparities. Many patients...
Navigating New Beginnings: Compassionate, Comprehensive Care for Refugee Patients
In the busy halls of Zufall Health – Plainsboro, a diverse array of patients receives health care services. Among them is Hassan*, a father of four and refugee from Afghanistan. Since his first visit to the health center in September 2023, Hassan has been addressing a number of health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and hypertension, under the care of nurse practitioner Nancy Patel, DNP, FNP-BC, and colleagues....
What We Can Learn from Dr. Bob’s 1991 Letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association
In 1991, Zufall Health—then known as the Dover Community Clinic—was a new organization with limited resources. Urologist Robert Zufall, M.D. (“Dr. Bob”), and his wife and medical business assistant, Kathryn (“Kay”), founded the small, one-night-a-week clinic after retiring from their nearby private practice. The same year, Dr. Bob wrote about the Dover Community Clinic in a letter to the editor of the Journal of the American Medication Association (JAMA), a highly...
HFNJ Grant Expands Team-Based Care for Essex County Seniors at Zufall Health
Zufall Health has expanded care for vulnerable Essex County seniors, courtesy of a generous award from the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ). The $120,000 grant from HFNJ supports our expansion of team-based medical, dental, behavioral, and supportive services to people 65-plus in and around our West Orange office. Seniors have an increased risk of chronic and communicable diseases, are more susceptible to social isolation, and are more likely to have...