Community health leader Rosa Fernandez highlights housing, access and education in wellbeing

Rosa Fernandez, newly appointed urban director of the Central Mass AHEC and a UMass Chan Medical School faculty member, says housing, education and access to care shape community wellbeing and that residents must have a place at the table when solutions are planned.

Rosa Fernandez is the newly appointed urban director of the Central Mass Area Health Education Center, now known as the Center for Health Impact, and is a faculty member at UMass Chan Medical School. She has worked in community health for nearly 30 years and focuses on social determinants of health such as housing, education and access to care. The Center provides community-based training for community health workers, interpreters and transitional workers, and Fernandez emphasizes involving residents in identifying local needs. She describes her work as a calling shaped by personal experience and long-term community ties. What we know: - Fernandez leads the urban AHEC program and works to introduce early-year medical students to local populations and primary care settings. - The Center for Health Impact conducts trainings in the community, including upcoming workshops such as a mindfulness session with the Latino Health Education Institute and collaborations for Sexual Assault Awareness Month with Pathways to Change. - Fernandez has partnered with organizations including AIDS Project Worcester and works with clinicians such as Dr. Erik Garcia on services for people who are unhoused. - She highlights housing instability as a major factor that can worsen chronic illness, mental health and access to basic needs like refrigeration for medications. - Fernandez grew up in Worcester after emigrating from Puerto Rico, began community health work in 1998, and says lived experience informs her focus on directing resources to neighborhoods. Summary: Fernandez frames community wellbeing around basic needs and community voice, arguing that housing, education and access to care directly affect health. She plans to continue community trainings, student engagement and partnerships with local organizations as she settles into the new role, and broader program timelines and developments are undetermined at this time.