Charmaine Ruddock, MS
Director, Bronx Health REACH
The Institute for Family Health
Ms. Ruddock joined the Institute for Family Health, a network of federally qualified health centers in New York, in 2000 to direct Bronx Health REACH, a coalition of 70 community and faith-based organizations addressing racial and ethnic health disparities in the Bronx. As Project Director, Ms. Ruddock has overseen a multi-sectorial effort to understand and address the underlying causes of, and solutions to racial and ethnic health disparities in the community. Her key responsibilities include developing a community coalition linking health care providers, community and elected leaders, social service agencies, government agencies, local small businesses, and community based organizations engaged in a community based approach to eliminating health disparity.
As part of Bronx Health REACH, Ms. Ruddock also directs a New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) funded School Wellness initiative in several Bronx public schools; as well as the efforts of the Partnership for a Healthier Bronx which is part of New York City’s Partnership for a Healthier New York.
In the Spring of 2014, Ms. Ruddock co-founded the campaign, Not62! in response to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/University of Wisconsin’s County Health Rankings Report that has the Bronx ranked 62 out of the 62 counties in New York State in health outcomes and health factors.
As Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the National REACH Coalition (the NRC) and a member of the Steering Committee of the National Health Equity Coalition (NHEC), Ms. Ruddock is involved in national efforts to engage policy makers at the federal level on solutions to racial and ethnic health disparities.
Ms. Ruddock is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Health, Media and Policy at Hunter College and sits on the Advisory Board for the MPH program at the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Lehman College.
She holds a BA. in Literature and Social Sciences from the University of the West Indies and a Masters of Science in Management and Policy Analysis from the Graduate School of Management at The New School for Social Research in New York.
Meet The BlackDoctor.org 2nd Annual Top Blacks In Healthcare Awards Honorees was originally published on blackdoctor.org
