SFIC ONLINE BRIEFING FOR FAITH LEADERS

"TO ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES,
OVERDOSE & CARE FOR SAN FRANCISCANS"

Thursday, October 28, 2021
8:30 am - 9:45 am

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If anything, COVID-19 has amplified and drawn attention to numerous needs and inequities in our City, not the least of which are mental health challenges and related care for San Franciscans. In San Francisco alone, over 700 people died of drug overdose in just the last year. This week's "Online Briefing for Faith Leaders welcomes Dr. Hillary Kunins, Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF for the City & County of San Francisco, who will share the Department of Public Health's new initiatives and priorities to improve access to care and substance use treatment, reduce overdose deaths, and reach people experiencing homelessness. As faith leaders are considered partners in our City's mental health support system, Dr. Kunins looks forward to this opportunity to connect our City's faith communities to care, and hear from faith leaders about what is working and what is not.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY ONLINE BRIEFING MODERATOR

Michael G. Pappas, M.Div.
Executive Director, San Francisco Interfaith Council

WELCOME & READING OF SFIC STATEMENT

Rita R. Semel

REFLECTIVE MOMENT

Rev. Dr. Jonathan Butler
Executive Director
Research Faculty
Associate Minister

(Introduction of Guest Presenter and Presentation
by SFIC Executive Director Michael Pappas)
Hillary Kunins, MD, MPH, MS
Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF
Dr. Hillary Kunins joined the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) in March, 2021, as the Director of Behavioral Health Services and Mental Health SF. Dr. Kunins joined SFDPH from New York City where she served as the Executive Deputy Commissioner of Mental Hygiene (2019-2021) and Assistant Commissioner for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use (2012-2019) at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). At DOHMH, Dr. Kunins led the reimagining of New York City's public health approach to substance use, including overdose as served as the DOHMH lead for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $60 million HealingNYC initiative to address the overdose epidemic. As a general internist and addiction medicine physician, Dr. Kunins has dedicated her career to health equity for people with behavioral health concerns, including substance use and serious mental illness, through science-based public health and healthcare programs and policy. Dr. Kunins received her MD and MPH from Columbia University and her MS in Clinical Research from Einstein College of Medicine and completed her primary care-internal medicine residency and chief residency at Montefiore/Einstein. Dr. Kunins is a Fellow of American College of Physicians and Fellow of American Society of Addiction Medicine.
(Please note: questions will be accepted from the audience via Chat)

CLOSING REMARKS

SFIC Executive Director Michael Pappas
A special thanks…

The San Francisco Interfaith Council Online Briefings 
 are supported by a grant from

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is a Cooperation Circle of the United Religions Initiative. 
San Francisco Interfaith Council | https://www.sfinterfaithcouncil.org/