Creating connections and engaging our community make up one of the cornerstones of our mission.
UConn police officers at the UConn Health campus for the Connecticut Special Olympics torch run June 2021. (Photo provided by Maggie Silver)
We understand the importance of human connection. As a police department, we try to find new and innovative ways to create new connections. We want to be part of our community and support the community in any way that leaves the community better.
Our officers know that giving back to the community is essential. Many of us do so by donating time, random acts of kindness, and helping others in need. We accomplish some of those goals by getting involved with many great organizations.
For example, we are strong supporters of the Special Olympics. This year, thanks to the hard work of Sgt. Dominic Nesci, the Law Enforcement Torch Run ran through our Farmington campus, with many officers participating, including Sgt. Nick Catania running in full uniform.
As a community outreach effort, UConn Deputy Police Chief Maggie Silver is taking part in a fundraiser for the Special Olympics by rappelling down a 31-story building at the Mohegan Sun Casino Sept. 3, 2021. Pictured here is the start of her descent in the same event in 2020. (Photo provided by Maggie Silver)
We also have conducted food drives, toy drives for DCF children, and stuff a cruiser with school supplies for inner city kids. For us, connecting with the community is a priority and hopefully we serve as a role model for others to join in helping.
It is also fun as it pushes us out of our comfort zone. Last year, I rappelled down 31 stories for “Over the Edge for Special Olympics of Connecticut” campaign. If you want to see some 2020 pictures go to my page. I also had a great group of people cheering me on and waiting for me at the bottom. I’m doing it again this year, on Sept. 3 — scary and fun but also a great way to support!
Take time to help each other. When we support each other, we succeed, we heal, we grow.
Do you have a suggested topic for the Campus Safety Corner? Email your suggestion, with “Campus Safety Corner” in the subject line, to pulse@uchc.edu.
UConn Deputy Police Chief Maggie Silver (Photo by Kristin Wallace)
Our communities today, especially individuals of color, feel that the police are a threat to their well-being. We respect and recognize that the history of policing is tarnished with their role in perpetuating racial injustice. We recognize and ask for forgiveness for the role of policing in segregation, xenophobia, corruption, and encroachments on constitutional rights. These are unpleasant truths for all us in policing. We acknowledge the pain, frustration, and anger that our communities feel and the distrust they have for the police. However, we ask for forgiveness and hope. We want to learn and improve. There over 900,000 police officers in this country. We recognize that there are bad apples but we ask for hope that most of us want to be a resource and supportive of our communities.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, UConn Health had an increased need for security. To provide the care that our community needed without becoming a financial burden, I had officers from regional campuses as well as Storrs relocated to UConn Health. This provided essential security functions for our health care workers and supporting staff working around the clock to combat the pandemic. We were fortunate to have the resources to allocate due to the campus closure at the other campuses. Currently, we are in the process of returning those officers to their assigned campuses, which might have contributed to the perception that we have all these officers on the UConn Health campus.
Our officers also receive the same training and authority to protect and serve their community as every police officer/police department in the state. UConn Police officers receive annual training in use of force and de-escalation techniques. We receive extensive training that focuses on communication and the use of less lethal options that are available to the officers. Our officers are taught about constitutional rights and provided with legal updates to make sure they understand application changes in areas like the constitutional amendments, which are continually altered by case law. Just recently we had officers attending a class addressing “Crowd Management and Protecting Civil Rights.” We mandate all our officers to read all policies and procedures and to speak up if they have a concern. The well-being of our community members and supporting the mission of UConn and UConn health is our priority.
Finally, the sad truth is that there are predators out there who will target the weak. Quantifying the prevention police officers have in their communities is impossible. We understand threats that exist and try to keep our community safe. For example, Federal Bureau statistics indicates that in the last 10 years, the United States averages approximately 20 active shooters per year and those numbers are on the rise. In the last 10 years, approximately 164 shootings have taken place in hospitals across the country. As a public institution, we are fully open to the general public. We do not have the benefit to regulate access as private institutions. The freedom provided often comes with higher exposure.
The UConn Police Department values our community. We acknowledge that change and transformation are always needed. We police with the consent of our community. We welcome our community as a partner and want them to hold us accountable. We work with our officers to ensure that they are not dehumanized by the uniform. We believe that ethical policing is essential and we focus on developing a policing culture that has a sense of ownership and loyal to every community member.
Do you have a suggested topic for the Campus Safety Corner? Email your suggestion, with “Campus Safety Corner” in the subject line, to pulse@uchc.edu.
UConn Deputy Police Chief Maggie Silver (Photo by Kristin Wallace)
Constructive feedback can be empowering and helpful for all of us to achieve our goals. While feedback when not delivered appropriately could develop hurtful feelings, it is vital to understand that feedback helps us progress. Developing critique sessions for yourself and/or your team takes practice. At first these sessions may seem time consuming but with patience and commitment, constructive criticism just makes you and the team stronger.
There a few guidelines to follow when exposing yourself and the team to constructive criticism. First, be transparent about your goals. Second, remember that disagreement on issues is not necessarily a bad thing. Difficult dialogue helps us understand other perspectives and grow. Third, create situations where feedback is exchanged, meaning those receiving feedback are willing to receive it. Our goal is not to criticize but to analyze what can be improved, what is being done well, and identify actionable items for growth.
In the spirit of positive growth, the UConn Police Department is seeking our community’s feedback. We want to hear from you about what is being done right and what we need to improve. To achieve this, we invite all members of the community to provide feedback through our anonymous online UConn Police Community Survey. Your opinion matters. Our goal with the survey is to capture the attitudes and opinions of the community with respect to:
overall agency performance
overall competency of agency employees
citizens’ perception of officers’ attitudes and behavior
communication with the community
community concern over safety and security within the agency’s service area
citizens’ recommendations and suggestions for improvements
Completing this survey should take about 15 minutes and help shed light on how we can better assist our community. Find it at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/R5RFHCJ.
Do you have a suggested topic for the Campus Safety Corner? Email your suggestion, with “Campus Safety Corner” in the subject line, to pulse@uchc.edu.
‘Changing the Way People and Patients Eat, One Plate at a Time,’ a perspective from UConn Health dietitian Linda York
Linda York is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at UConn Health. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)
You have seen them around – perhaps in the NICU, on the medical floors, in the cafeteria, at medical meetings, education seminars, in the outpatient cancer center or diabetes nutrition clinic. Who are they? They are the registered dietitians of UConn Health, employed by Sodexo. (Sodexo is a worldwide food service company for hospitals, companies and other venues and has been at UConn Health for several years.)
March is National Nutrition Month so our Sodexo registered dietitians will be in the cafeteria featuring a weekly theme and a delicious recipe from Sodexo. Chef Roland will prepare a sample of the recipe for you to taste.
Here is a summary of the weekly themes presented for National Nutrition Month.
Week 1: Kerry Coughlin, MSRD, kicks it off with “Smart Tips to Build a Healthy Salad.”
Week 2: Hannah Anctil, R.D., presents “Eating on the Run in 2021.”
Week 3: Erin McDonald, R.D., offers “Power Up Breakfast.”
Week 4: William Kelsey, R.D., features a cultural food theme.
(provided by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
The other Sodexo registered dietitians at UConn Health who are working behind the scenes for National Nutrition month are Erica Burdon, MSRD, Chris Carnright, MSRD and myself.
And who keeps us all organized? That would be Melissa Kelly, MSRD, Sodexo hospital clinical manager, who not only manages the R.D. staff, she also offers her clinical expertise and guidance in all areas of clinical nutrition.
Be sure to check Lifeline for posts featuring the weekly recipe/handout done by our Sodexo registered dietitians.
And next time you see one of us, please say hello. We are here for you!
UConn Deputy Police Chief Maggie Silver (Photo by Kristin Wallace)
The core enemy of situational awareness is complacency. Each one of us develops instinctual situational awareness. Over time, we get complacent in our comfort zones or stop listening to our senses. We disconnect from paying attention. We let our guards down.
I am not asking you to be in constant hyper-alert mode. An endless hyper-alert mode is draining and dangerous to our health. Understanding your unique relationship and response to your environment is vital to situational awareness. Exercising your situational awareness is good for all. If each of us takes a moment to check our surroundings and report any unusual behaviors or situations, our community is better off for it.
As a reminder, an individual should not make you uncomfortable. The behavior makes you uncomfortable. Their actions, or in some cases inactions, which seem odd or out of place are what you will report. Frequently individuals make comments after an incident occurred stating that they felt like something was not right. However, they failed to notify an authority because they did not listen to their personal alarm. Next time a situation seems odd, remove the individual. Observe the actions or inactions of the person. You know your environment; trust your senses, and report the behavior that does not fit the situation.
Remember that situational awareness must be practiced because it quickly erodes into complacency. Practice situational awareness by thinking of activities that reduce your complacency and increase your ability to be present.
Do you have a suggested topic for the Campus Safety Corner? Email your suggestion, with “Campus Safety Corner” in the subject line, to pulse@uchc.edu.
The following announcement is from UConn Health leadership:
Dr. Lynn Kosowicz is interim chair of the UConn School of Medicine Department of Medicine and interim chief of medical services. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)
We are pleased to announce that Lynn Kosowicz, M.D., FACP, has accepted the appointment as Interim Chair of Department of Medicine and Interim Chief of Medical Services. Dr. Kosowicz, currently the director of the Clinical Skills Assessment Program, completed medical school, internal medicine residency and a year as chief medical resident at UConn, and then joined the faculty in the Department of Medicine in 1991. A dedicated and respected primary care internist, Dr. Kosowicz has focused her academic contributions on improving patient care by enhancing the clinical skills of learners and practitioners through simulation, mentorship, and research. Examples of grant-funded research include the design of a novel approach to teaching physical examination skills that has been disseminated to many institutions across the nation, and an AMA-sponsored project that prioritizes social determinants of health to improve chronic disease prevention and management. Dr. Kosowicz has been recognized within the institution by appointment to the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the Board of Directors, as well as the Education Council, Faculty Review Board, and LCME self-study task forces and steering committees. Dr. Kosowicz has received several awards, including the NEGEA/AAMC Distinguished Service & Leadership Award; the Thornton Award, Connecticut Chapter of American College of Physicians, in recognition of outstanding contributions to medical education; and the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award. Internationally, she was invited to train and mentor faculty at the Universidad de Chile Escuela Medicina as they developed a successful interprofessional Clinical Skills center in Santiago.
Dr. Kosowicz’s family is a multigenerational UConn Health family. Her father introduced her to UConn in 1968 when he joined the faculty of the new School of Dental Medicine. Three of her four daughters are health care professionals – one a gastroenterologist, who graduated from UConn’s School of Medicine, and two are nurses, one of whom graduated from UConn’s School of Nursing.
Please welcome and support Dr. Kosowicz in her new roles.
Bruce T. Liang, M.D.
Dean, School of Medicine
Andrew Agwunobi M.D., MBA
CEO UConn Health and EVP for Health Affairs
UConn Deputy Police Chief Maggie Silver (Photo by Kristin Wallace)
The new phrase in our vocabulary as we reconnect with family and friends in an attempt to reset our routines is “this is new normal.” For many people, the mere thought of this as a new normal is upsetting. If you are one of those individuals, give yourself permission to be dismayed. We have experienced a global pandemic. However, remember that there is an amazing resilience within each one of us.
Resilience is a key element to our survival. Resilience is about growing and even thriving in adversity. The key is to develop opportunities to feed your resilience through mindfulness, relationships, and goals. Each of those points has the potential to improve your resilience. For instance, one of the most important aspects of resilience is mindfulness. Feed the positive and disregard the negative. Develop a system of checks and balances of your daily thoughts. Learn to foster and trust healthy thoughts.
Relationships are essential to resilience. At this stage, you can have a gathering with appropriate social distancing or have a Zoom party. Nurture your support system and respect your journey as well as the journey of those around you.
Lastly, establish goals and outline objectives that will help you positively focus your energy. Develop a positive, clear path for yourself.
These three simple measures will ensure that regardless of the type of life-changing situation you face, you will always emerge stronger.
Linda York is a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator at UConn Health. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)
As a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator working from home providing nutritional and diabetes education, I have heard how some of my patients are gaining weight, eating more out of boredom or stress and exercising less during isolation. However, some of my patients are taking a can-do approach by walking more, eating better, trying more recipes and losing weight. In short, they are becoming healthier. This is a good thing because by improving our health, we can prevent many chronic diseases such as prediabetes, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and orthopedic injuries. Also, adopting healthy habits can reduce your risk of viral infections of any kind. So let’s take a look at some of these COVID can-do healthy habits.
Healthy Habit # 1: Physical exercise
Since the stay-at-home order was put in place, walking has exploded in popularity and everybody is outside. Let’s keep it up, and aim for whatever you can do. Depending on your level of fitness, it may start with a 10 minute walk a day with an increase by 5 minutes a week trying to get to a goal of 45 minutes each day. This will help you lose some weight and reduce stress. Being mindful of the beauty of nature that abounds surely helps. Hiking has increased, too. The “All Trails” app is a great tool for easy, moderate-to- hard trails (just get there early). If walking is difficult, perhaps chair exercises or stationary bike outside or in front of your favorite window is an option. For inside exercise, YouTube has many choices. Leslie Sazzone’s “Walking Off the Weight” video on YouTube or on DVD is a favorite of my patients.
Healthy Habit # 2: Manage Stress
This is easier said than done with so many people laid off from work. However, there are free online yoga classes. I have taken several which can range from gentle to Vinyassa – which is more advanced. If you’re new to yoga, try gentle yoga with meditation. You can find meditation on YouTube as well. Practicing meditation and breathing are helpful tools. Isolation can increase stress. Reach out to someone by telephone, email or an outdoor visit. During the COVID pandemic, there has been an increase in alcohol intake so be mindful of your drinking. One 5-ounce glass of wine has 120 calories, which adds up calorie-wise.
Healthy Habit # 3: Healthy Diet
As usual, a plant-based, Mediterranean, low-fat, portion-controlled diet using the plate method is recommended. Go to myplate.org. For every meal, try to make half of your plate fruits and vegetables, a quarter of your plate as lean protein and a quarter should be complex carbohydrates that are high in fiber and less topical fats and sugars. Now may be the time to try and eat more vegetarian meals. Why? Vegetarian meals provide more fiber which help promote healthy gut bacteria, provide less cholesterol and/or saturated fat, and are rich in antioxidant/fiber rich fruits and vegetables. By adding more fiber, we drop the amount of calories we consume because high-fiber foods fill us up more. Also, vegetarian ingredients are easy to find and stock up on during COVID time when going to the supermarket less and meat availability is less. Purchase staples such as beans, legumes, peas, nonfat plain yogurt, eggs, bread, frozen, fresh, canned fruits or veggies, canned plum tomatoes, pasta, potatoes, nonfat milk, onions, carrots, cauliflower, chicken, tofu, salmon, shrimp and oatmeal are all great to have to make the recipes below.
Since many of us have more time to cook, try something new such as baking whole wheat bread like batter (no-knead bread) or traditional bread. It’s fun, and really all you need is time and some yeast (sometimes hard to come these days.)
Healthy Habit # 4: A Good Night’s Sleep
Practice good sleep hygiene by going to bed at the same time each night, drinking less wine or alcohol before bed and putting cell phones and devices in another room. Room blackening shades may be helpful.
Here are some recipes (some from patients), that I have been making with the staples above. I hope you enjoy them:
Aromatic Carrot Soup
Ingredients: Combine 2 tablespoons butter and olive oil with 2 medium chopped onions, ¼ teaspoon ginger, 1/8 teaspoon mace, 10 medium peeled and sliced carrots, 8 cups chicken or vegetable broth, 1 tablespoon grated orange zest, 1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice with salt and pepper to taste.
Process: Melt butter and oil in large sauce pan over low heat. Add onions and cook stirring until wilted, sprinkle ginger, and mace then stir for 1 minute. Add carrots, broth and orange zest. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer partially covered 20 minutes and cool. Then puree in food processor or Magic Bullet, stir in orange juice, salt and pepper. Serves 8.
Cauliflower Fried Rice Bowl
Ingredients: 3 cups raw grated cauliflower, ½ cup frozen peas, ½ cup thinly sliced carrots, 3 or 4 garlic cloves, ½ cup diced onion, ½ tablespoons. olive oil, 2 eggs scrambled and 3 tablespoons soy sauce.
Process: In large pan, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil on medium heat until onions become soft and transparent, Next add in peas, carrots and cook until carrots soften and peas are heated through for 3 to 4 minutes. Next stir in scrambled eggs, cauliflower and soy sauce cooking for 5 to 7 more minutes. Now add in your favorite protein and vegetable like broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, chicken, tofu, and salmon.
Fruit Crisp
Made with apples, berries, cinnamon, oatmeal, ½ cup margarine, and brown sugar. Put fruit on bottom and add mixture to top and bake at 350 for a half hour.
Green Veggie Shake
Blend in magic bullet 1 carrot, 1 cup spinach, 1 apple, and 1 cup broccoli with 1 teaspoon ginger with 1 cup nonfat yogurt or 1% milk (a great way to get all your fruits and veggies for one day). If cold out, heat it up as a soup, if hot out drink it as a shake.
Lentil Curry
Ingredients: 3 tab butter, 4 garlic cloves, 1 ½ tablespoons ginger, 1 chopped onion, 2 tablespoons curry powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 ¼ teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoons pepper, 1 cup dried lentils, 14 ounces of milk, 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, 3 cups water.
Process: Sauté onion, with butter, garlic and ginger. Cook stirring until onion is gold. Cook off spices of curry powder and turmeric for 1 ½ minutes, add all rest of ingredients and stir. Bring to a simmer then place lid on and adjust heat to low for a gentle simmer for 30 minutes, then remove lid and simmer for another 10 minutes. (Lentils should be soft, sauce thick and creamy.) Serve with rice and nonfat Greek yogurt. Top with chopped cilantro.
The Pulse is interested in hearing from front-line health care providers and the support staff who keep our environment safe, clean, and functioning to optimize the delivery of patient care.
We’d like to know how much help you feel like you’re getting from the community at large in the effort to get the upper hand on this pandemic.
Specifically, complying with “stay home” and “social distancing” orders have resulted in almost everyone having to endure some degree of hardship. But if enough people don’t endure that hardship, it can undermine what you’re trying to accomplish for the greater good.
So we’re asking for your perspective: People are calling you heroes – rightfully so—but are their actions backing their words?
The UConn School of Medicine Class of 2020 senior awards ceremony