Surviving the Western Kentucky Tornadoes

On today’s episode, Kendra Steele describes growing up in the coal fields region, becoming an Emmy nominated broadcaster and her path to the Emergency Preparedness Branch. Kendra utilizes her media expertise to spread awareness about public health preparedness. Tune in to hear our impressions and takeaways from the deadly tornadoes in western Kentucky in 2021, and the catastrophic flooding in eastern Kentucky in 2022. For information about how to prepare for disasters, check out Kendra’s monthly articles in the employee newsletter and click on ready.gov.

Jennifer Dudinskie was raised in Spencer County and went on to graduate from Eastern Kentucky University with a double major in music and elementary education. Beginning as a Medicaid services specialist, she has come full circle in the span of 20 years as the director of program integrity. Today, we discuss her inspiring career path, management style and expertise in identifying fraud, waste and abuse. Jennifer also shares with our listeners some interesting life lessons and her enthusiasm for yoga, health and wellness practices.

Food safety is something we take for granted, until there is a food-borne illness or outbreak. The Food Safety Branch at Public Health makes sure our food products stay safe. This includes grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and other locations where food is available to Kentuckians. Today’s guest, Mark Reed, is the food safety branch manager. He began his career in environmental health as a food safety inspector with a local health department. You won’t want to miss his fascinating stories along with some impressive accomplishments here and abroad. I guarantee you’ll never take food safety for granted again.

How does one begin to tell the story of Medicaid? It is a state and federal program that provides health care for eligible populations. But there’s so much more to Medicaid than programs and services. Medicaid is about individuals: children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities. Today’s guest Beth Fisher manages communications for the Department for Medicaid Services. We discuss her life in Oil Springs, journalism career and 18-year anniversary with the cabinet. We also talk about the benefits of Medicaid, including improved health care access, lower medical costs and the ability to fill medical coverage gaps in rural areas. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did, while gaining an even greater appreciation of how Medicaid benefits Kentuckians.

I first met Jason Bagley when I was chief resilience officer at Louisville Metro government. Together, we advocated on behalf of homeless individuals and families who were facing tremendous obstacles. Today we discuss his path from the foothills of Mt. Hood, Ore., to the circus, and then to the city of Louisville where he worked at a homeless shelter for 21 years. Bagley is currently the BHDID program manager in the Adult Mental Health and Recovery Services Branch at the Division of Mental Health. We’ll share what we have learned firsthand about trauma, resilience and how to best advocate for Kentuckians who are displaced.

Storytelling is an important part of what we do at the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Sharing genuine stories about our lives and the Kentuckians we serve boosts morale and builds trust. Today’s guest Susan Dunlap is Executive Director in the Office of Public Affairs. As spokesperson for the largest cabinet in state government she brings common sense and C-suite experience to the conversation. Tune in to find out what we’ve discovered about successful and not-so-successful communication strategies, along with some heartfelt stories of our own.

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is ideal for a conversation with Chief Privacy Officer Kathleen Hines in the Office of Legal Services. Raised in the south end of Louisville, she was a French language and literature major at Rhodes College in Memphis and attended law school at Case Western Reserve University. After graduating from law school, Hines began her legal career as a prosecutor in the juvenile division at the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office before coming to CHFS. Today, we discuss cybersecurity and the superheroes behind the scenes who protect private information at the cabinet. The Commonwealth Office of Technology encourages you to be aware of the latest cybersecurity technologies to stay safe and secure online. Our security and privacy teams are available to assist you with work-related questions and concerns about information security and privacy.

Kentucky Medicaid is a state and federal program authorized by Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide health care for eligible, low-income populations. This population comprises around 1.6M children, low-income families, pregnant women, the aged and those who are disabled. Today’s guest works behind the scenes as an important part of the Medicaid team. Meagan Hart received her undergraduate degree at Midway College and MBA at Columbia Southern University in Orange Beach, Ala. Today, we discuss how she came to state government, the importance of teamwork and why flexibility and communication are important traits for cabinet employees to strive for. 

Greta Greenwade Jones, Ed.D., is assistant director in the Program Integrity Division at the Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities. Born number 12 out of 13 children, she was raised in a loving home with a single mother in Western Kentucky. In today’s episode, we discuss Greta’s family life, career path and passion for volunteerism beginning at age nine. I personally consider it a blessing to wake up every morning with the opportunity to change somebody’s life through work and am grateful for the vast number of employees, like Greta, who exemplify this at CHFS.

Did you know that almost 185,000 people in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma in 2023? Most patients do not have a fully matched, healthy donor in their family and have to depend on national registries for bone marrow donations. A group of employees from the Office of Data Analytics are doing something about this. Ben Duncan, Reagan Gaetz and Darby Todd are raising awareness about how ordinary people can register to donate bone marrow and blood stem cells. On today’s episode, Darby and I talk with Be The Match Representative Dannielle Moore about how easy it is to provide hope and save lives by volunteering or becoming a donor for a patient seeking a match.