Students, health professionals and Bethlehem community members gathered on Thursday to examine structural and cultural barriers that prevent many from accessing quality health care locally, nationally and globally.
The Equity Town Hall, held in honor of National Public Health Week, was hosted by the College of Health and the Public Health Club in Lehigh’s Health, Science and Technology Building. Among several themes, the event focused on the difference in health care access between low-income and developed areas.
Ava DeLauro, ‘26, and Jia Li, ‘26, co-presidents and founders of the Public Health Club, said the event was conversation-based, designed intentionally to spark open dialogue rather than deliver a traditional panel presentation. The two also moderated the conversation.
DeLauro said the Equity Town Hall was the club’s biggest event of the semester and reflected the group’s mission to promote public health discourse beyond students on the pre-med track.
“People always think public health is just for pre-meds,” DeLauro said. “But public health is a field that impacts everyone. That’s why we started this club — to make space for public health conversations and initiatives on campus.”
Kristen Wenrich, director of the Bethlehem Health Bureau, spoke at the event. She said finding shared values is key to addressing gaps in health care access.
“It’s really a shame that health equity has become such a polarizing topic,” Wenrich said. “But I think reframing how we talk about it, focusing on common ground, can help push meaningful solutions forward.”
Sandra Boakye, a doctoral student in the College of Health, is the founder of a women’s health nonprofit in Ghana called “Inspire Her.” She said the nonprofit works to address menstrual equity and period poverty.
At the event, she said there are cultural barriers that affect women’s access to care, particularly in communities where giving birth in hospitals is seen as taboo. She also said religious and privacy concerns can prevent women from seeking care at health facilities.
“The first step is awareness,” Boakye said. “If women don’t feel emotionally or culturally safe in hospitals, they’re not going to go, even if the resources are technically there.”
She said her nonprofit has been able to partake in successful interventions. For example, she said Inspire Her created a system to help women bring trusted family members, like their mothers, with them to the hospital during childbirth.
Boakye said giving birth in a health care facility can have long-term benefits, like ensuring newborns receive critical vaccinations and postnatal care. She also said making simple changes to care that make women feel supported and respected can lead to more positive outcomes and increased return visits.
“Trust is a huge factor,” she said. “Once women see that they and their babies are safe, and that their cultural and emotional needs are respected, they’re more likely to come back.”
The panelists also discussed barriers to health care in the United States, which they agreed often stem from financial or structural issues.
Ellen Denizard, a panelist at the discussion, is the director of clinical services at STAR Community Health, a federally-qualified health center affiliated with St. Luke’s. She said the center offers care to all patients regardless of insurance status.
Denizard said services are provided on a sliding fee scale for uninsured patients, which makes care more accessible and affordable.
She also said many patients in the Lehigh Valley lack reliable transportation to appointments, and there is a need for improvements in public transit, as well as integrated care models that support patients’ broader needs.
Denizard said STAR Community Health has begun hiring more social workers in its clinics to help with insurance, prescriptions, transportation, food insecurity and housing.
“We’re trying to stop working in silos,” she said.
She also said for many of its patients, the center is the only place they feel safe.
“Especially for undocumented individuals, the current political climate makes it hard to trust the system,” Denizard said. “But we strictly follow HIPAA and make sure people know their information is protected.”
The town hall also addressed the growing distrust in public health institutions — something panelists linked to widespread misinformation and the politicization of health issues.
Wenrich said years ago, if the CDC said something, people believed it.
“But now with social media and alternative sources, people do their own ‘research,’ and conspiracy theories spread fast,” she said. “We need to rethink how we communicate.”
As the panel concluded, Boakye said students can help shift the narrative around health access, whether it’s through policy advocacy, public awareness campaigns or community organizing.
“Health equity means making sure everyone, no matter their background or income, can access high-quality care,” she said. “And if we’re bold enough to reimagine the system, we can make that vision a reality.”
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