00;00;00;18 - 00;00;07;18 Dr. Winn I'm Dr. Rob Winn and you're listening to Real Cancer Talk from VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. 00;00;07;20 - 00;00;20;18 Dr. Sutton Good afternoon and welcome to Facts and Faith Fridays. We are so glad that you chose to hang out with us again. For this month. We are very excited for the conversations that we're going to have today. 00;00;20;20 - 00;00;33;00 Dr. Sutton And so glad you all were able to join us. But you all know how we generally get it going, so we're going to ask, Doctor Hill if he would please provide us with opening prayers so we can kick this off. Doctor Hill. 00;00;33;03 - 00;00;43;22 Dr. Hill Thank you. God bless you Arnethea and everybody. Good afternoon. Let us pray. God our father, we thank you. And we give you the praise, the honor and glory for the privilege to gather. 00;00;43;25 - 00;01;05;27 Dr. Hill Those who are concerned about our communities and that we can offer that which is good, right, and pleasing in your sight. Help us, as servants of the Kingdom to make the most of these opportunities. Bless our speaker today and bless this forum. Continue to bless Facts and Faith Friday to your glory for our good and the good of others that we serve. 00;01;05;27 - 00;01;07;16 Dr. Hill And we ask this in Jesus name. 00;01;07;21 - 00;01;08;17 Dr. Hill Amen. 00;01;08;19 - 00;01;11;19 Dr. Sutton Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Doctor Hill. 00;01;11;22 - 00;01;33;15 Dr. Sutton we have with us our, newly appointed, State Health Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Health. And I really want to thank him and his team because, you know, we knew as soon as he was appointed, we really wanted him to come on to Facts on Faith Fridays, that a lot of the work that he's had and we've seen over the years really aligns with our community. 00;01;33;15 - 00;01;48;24 Dr. Sutton And so they were very responsive. And what he told us before we even got up here is I think he's been here for 32 days. So thank you for making this happen so quickly. I'm gonna give a brief bio of Doctor Webb, and then I'm going to turn it over to him. He's going to provide us some comments. 00;01;48;24 - 00;02;10;20 Dr. Sutton But you all know in our general fashion we love to welcome questions. So once you know, as he's providing his comments, feel free to put things in the chat. Definitely raise your hand and we'll unmute you. But we're going to have a good conversation here today. So as far as Doctor Webb's, bio as far as his education is concerned, he has an undergrad degree from UVA. 00;02;10;23 - 00;02;33;01 Dr. Sutton His doctor of Medicine degree from Wake Forest University, and then he did his residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Prior to his new appointment, he was an assistant professor at UVA. Doctor Webb, which I actually learned about on social media, years ago, was like, he is an MD, Juris Doctor. I found out he's also a youth basketball coach. 00;02;33;03 - 00;02;51;29 Dr. Sutton I'm like, man, this is this is quite the bio. Doctor Webb's wife, Leanne, is an emergency room physician. They do have two children. They reside in Charlottesville. I'm sure through our conversations with him and our questions, we'll learn a lot more about him. But I'm going to save most of our time to have this discussion. So, Doctor Webb, thank you so much for joining us. 00;02;51;29 - 00;02;53;20 Dr. Sutton And I'm going to turn it over to you. 00;02;53;23 - 00;02;58;27 Dr. Webb And thanks so much, Doctor Sutton. I appreciate the kind intro and, 00;02;59;00 - 00;03;04;13 Dr. Webb I've been looking forward to this conversation just because, this is the kind of space where 00;03;04;16 - 00;03;20;29 Dr. Webb Today, I think that, you know, part of why that works is because of this idea of trust and the idea of people being trusted messengers. And I think that that's where, I really want you all to to keep in mind, we are we are relying on you here at the Virginia Department of Health. 00;03;20;29 - 00;03;42;02 Dr. Webb We know the the trust that the community has. And you we don't want to we don't want to take that for granted. We recognize that, that for you, that trust is built on the fact that you have good information, timely information. You're able to share it thoughtfully. Now, I'm going to give you a little bit of background on on, what we're doing here at the Virginia Department of Health. 00;03;42;02 - 00;04;01;08 Dr. Webb Like I mentioned, this is day 32 for me. So. So, still getting rolling in a lot of ways. And starting to get out in the community a lot more. I want to give you a little bit of a sense of who I am, and what animates me. What, what I think is, is kind of the North Star for a lot of the work that I like to leave. 00;04;01;11 - 00;04;21;28 Dr. Webb Lee. But I think that here, I'll start with the frame that just public health and faith. There's something really fundamental that, they both are rooted in. And it's also a legal concept is that idea of duty, of care that we have to our communities and the people that we serve. And so that's something that responsibility to, to protect life, to promote dignity, to to serve the most vulnerable among us. 00;04;21;28 - 00;04;38;18 Dr. Webb That's that's the idea that I think animates public health. And also a lot of your faith work. So for me, I'm, I'm, you know, I start by saying I'm a kid from Spotsylvania County, so I'm just up the road. I grew up in Spotsylvania, went to college, as you heard, at UVA. But Virginia is home for me. 00;04;38;18 - 00;04;59;27 Dr. Webb And so, you know, my studies, as you heard in the bio, took me, you know, to North Carolina, to Chicago, to New York City, but but, but really, my wife and I were eager to come back home. She's from Appomattox, so, I thought I was from the country, but I didn't. I know, I know, she said that in her hometown, they had one stoplight and one blinking light, and I was like, that's that's something. 00;04;59;27 - 00;05;19;10 Dr. Webb So, so, you know, we came back and we came back to Charlottesville because it's kind of halfway between for us. I've been able to work at UVA and and take care of patients. I'm an internal medicine doc, so I take care of, adults with their second when they're in the hospital. So, a lot of what Doctor Winn was saying regarding the flu, that's why I spent a lot of this winter taking care of. 00;05;19;10 - 00;05;38;09 Dr. Webb Because I was seeing patients up until the day that I came into this role at VDH on January 17th. And so, so, you know, definitely saw a lot of flu this year. Kind of peaked in late December. But but that's the work that I, that I do as a physician. My law background really use that in the context of trying to advocate for justice. 00;05;38;09 - 00;06;02;05 Dr. Webb So, a lot of people always joke, you know, is that I wanted to keep myself from getting sued. And that's not the reason. It's that I think that that, health care and social justice are intimately linked. And I think that and and I'll say in the black community in particular, we've seen how that dynamic of, social justice really being at the root of a lot of the health challenges that we see, know that's certainly, comes to bear. 00;06;02;05 - 00;06;31;08 Dr. Webb I was sharing with my team just the other day about how W.E.B. Du Bois and his kind of seminal, sociological study called The Philadelphia Negro talked about the disparities that we see and and understanding. This isn't new stuff. Right. The social justice dynamics have been at play in health care since the beginning. And so as we learn more, as we, we, understand more and we've measured more, it's time for us to tend to some of those social dynamics that we actually want to, you know, advance health and well-being. 00;06;31;08 - 00;06;51;20 Dr. Webb And so, and so, you know, for me, I think that's why it was exciting to come into this role as Health Commissioner. The it certainly plays a public health function. The Virginia Department of Health, this is a huge agency. We have, you know, footprint in, in every county, every city across Virginia. We've got, you know, over 130 local health departments. 00;06;51;20 - 00;07;18;16 Dr. Webb We've got you know, our health districts, 35 of those. But beyond that, almost 4000 people who work in this agency to advance the health and well-being of Virginians. And so, really, a large and an important agency. And my goal, my vision is to really, to mobilize this group on on one common theme, and that's that everybody in this Commonwealth deserves the chance to be healthy. 00;07;18;18 - 00;07;37;07 Dr. Webb You know, this couple has some, some really great strengths, if you think about it from a health standpoint. Because we have some really strong academic centers I mentioned. I worked at UVA, we got places like VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. So really powerful, national leaders right here in the Commonwealth to serve the health needs of the community. 00;07;37;09 - 00;08;03;16 Dr. Webb Like I mentioned, we have all of our local health departments, all the employees, but we also still have some really some very real challenges that we face. If you look at the burden of chronic disease, we certainly see that, you probably heard a lot of issues with maternal health disparities, both in and as we say, morbidity and mortality, how sick people are, when, when they're pregnant or delivering babies or shortly thereafter, but also how many unfortunately lose their lives, particularly women of color? 00;08;03;19 - 00;08;23;10 Dr. Webb Cancer mortality gaps. And I mentioned, some of the great work at Massey, but, you know, we still see gaps by race, ethnicity, and cancer, life expectancy differences. So there are there are lots of different issues. And then one that I think we'll all kind of connect on is that idea that there's still some lingering mistrust, and that comes kind of in the wake of the Covid pandemic. 00;08;23;10 - 00;08;54;09 Dr. Webb But I think, even more broadly, over the last couple of years, we just haven't, you know, shaken off that feeling that there's still some mistrust. I'll tell you, one thing that I always come back to is that idea that, you know, you're you're we've seen that your zip code matters more about what happens with your health than your genetic code, you know, than the Human Genome Project, we learned that there's more genetic similarity between races than there is even within races. 00;08;54;09 - 00;09;14;08 Dr. Webb But yet and still we see these huge differences. As I like to say, to, to kind of riff on, brother Cornel West, but is that, you know, place matters, just like race matters. And I think that where people are, I think that's such an important part of what we need to do. So as we design a healthier Virginia starts with really considering, place. 00;09;14;12 - 00;09;39;16 Dr. Webb So the moment that we're in right now, you know, like I said, this is day 32 for me. But the moment that we're in, really is one where, our communities are facing a lot of issues with health insurance coverage. Right. So we have these transitions in insurance, the Affordable Care Act, the, the individual marketplace, we've seen those costs really skyrocket because of some policy decisions, and inaction out of Washington. 00;09;39;16 - 00;10;00;27 Dr. Webb And so because of that, it's more expensive for a lot of people to get coverage. There's even more federal uncertainty. We don't know what what kind of especially in the health space. What's going to continue to be supported and funded, and also in the public health space. And Governor Spanberger has been really, on the record talking a lot about affordability in the affordability crisis. 00;10;00;27 - 00;10;18;17 Dr. Webb So the rising costs that families are facing, it's not just a matter of, you know, gas is more expensive or milk is more expensive or eggs are more expensive. It's the fact that people are making decisions about whether to heat their homes in that, you know, freezing cold, cold winter storm we had the other week, or whether to buy their medications. 00;10;18;17 - 00;10;40;07 Dr. Webb And I think those are the kind of decisions we want to help people, avoid, not have to make those decisions and, and instead really help advocate for, more affordability in health care spaces and education spaces. Just an overall cost of living for Virginians. Because the reality is that, you know, communities of color often, faced, the brunt of that, of that pain. 00;10;40;12 - 00;10;59;14 Dr. Webb So, so that's one, one, I guess, important thing to note at the moment that we're in. And then we're also in a moment of bitter polarization when it comes to how people think about these issues. It used to be that, there was a statement I remember hearing for years that you can choose your opinion, but you can't choose your own facts. 00;10;59;14 - 00;11;23;19 Dr. Webb Right. But that's kind of shifted, I think these days, we do see a lot of people choose their facts and really confuse the public as to what's actual and factual and particular when it comes to health. I share some news that actually that that broke yesterday. So I made, made a decision as the state health commissioner, regarding vaccines for our kids here in Virginia. 00;11;23;19 - 00;11;47;05 Dr. Webb And, you know, the centers for Disease Control, the CDC, made a change in early January where they were, reducing the number of vaccines that were recommended for kids and instead said, you know, you can choose whether or not to get to get those. We're not going to recommend them. But, you know, it's up to you, if you make that decision or not, that sent a tough message to communities. 00;11;47;07 - 00;12;08;09 Dr. Webb And I think that where we landed on it, was the the reality is our kids are extremely precious. All of the vaccines that have been developed are to prevent illnesses. And here in Virginia right now, we've had ten cases of measles so far in 2026. That's twice as many as we had in all of 2025. 00;12;08;12 - 00;12;31;04 Dr. Webb Down the road in South Carolina, they've had over 900 cases of measles, in an outbreak that they're facing. This isn't something that, you know, I heard about during my medical training a couple of years ago. We didn't see measles like this in the United States. The resurgence that we're seeing is because people aren't being vaccinated, and that's a real risk. It's one of the most communicable diseases there is. 00;12;31;04 - 00;12;50;13 Dr. Webb So when you send a message that a Covid vaccines are bad and don't get your flu vaccine, people hear that sometimes as I don't need vaccines, I don't need the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. I don't need, you know, pertussis vaccine. Well, in hospitals we're seeing more pertussis, we're seeing more measles. We're seeing the effect of people not being vaccinated. 00;12;50;13 - 00;13;20;23 Dr. Webb So the decision that I made was, you know, even though typically we we follow what CDC says, I decided to go in a different direction. And I'm following with, you know, a million providers who fall in the umbrella of the American Academy of Pediatrics or recommend, right, over a million providers, 12 professional organizations, including the National Medical Association, which is the nation's oldest and largest physician organization that serves communities of color, represents the providers of in communities of color, you know, all in alignment. 00;13;20;25 - 00;13;39;26 Dr. Webb We need these vaccines that they can manage these preventable illnesses. And so we just released that yesterday. And, and I'll tell you, my phone was blowing up with so many people from all over Virginia just saying thank you. And it's not because this was a hard decision, because I'll be honest, it wasn't. It's easy to follow the science. 00;13;39;26 - 00;13;56;03 Dr. Webb It's easy to look at the data and say, this is going to save lives. This is a no brainer. And we've seen in so many states around the country, people are making that same decision to break with CDC. I would be clear with you all, CDC actually did not have, kind of a formal process to make that recommendation. 00;13;56;09 - 00;14;20;12 Dr. Webb They just changed it. Typically, you would have 2 or 3 days worth of meetings and these detailed evidence presentations called Evidence to Recommendation and stakeholders from all over the country coming in, weighing in on whether or not a decision should be made on changing vaccine recommendations. That is not what happened on January 5th or 6th, whenever they made that original change. They just decided they were going to change it. 00;14;20;14 - 00;14;38;27 Dr. Webb And that's not how we can take care of the health of our communities. We have to use evidence. And so it's easy for me to follow professional society guidance like the American Academy of Pediatrics. And that's the kind of work that we want to do. So I want to I want to quickly share, because I know I want to get to questions from you all. 00;14;38;27 - 00;14;58;12 Dr. Webb So I want to talk a little bit, for the next few minutes about some of my core goals. At the Virginia Department of Health the next, the next couple of years. You know, first and foremost, you know, I talked to Governor Spanberger and I said, what's the most important thing to you when it comes to the health of, of Virginians? 00;14;58;12 - 00;15;16;18 Dr. Webb And she said, I'll be honest, there are so many issues that are important. She's passionate about maternal health. Really wanted to make sure that we were protecting communities that have been hard hit, you know, over time and addressing inequities. And she said, but first and foremost, we need to just run a, high performing public health system, right? 00;15;16;19 - 00;15;42;16 Dr. Webb We need to manage our money responsibly. We need to execute the grants that we had. You know, this agency has over $1 billion in funding, and over 60% of that is federal grants. So if we got those dollars coming in, Virginians should benefit from that in spades. You know, we should modernize our data system. So this is a truly 21st century public health system, and we should have really clear performance metrics that we're reporting on in a transparent way. 00;15;42;16 - 00;16;00;25 Dr. Webb People should see it. They should know what we're doing and how we're doing it. You know, public health, I guess as the saying goes, if it can't execute well, we can't earn trust. We it's impossible for people to trust us if we don't execute well. And that idea of stewardship, I think that's that's the first goal here. 00;16;00;28 - 00;16;17;29 Dr. Webb As you know, in the faith community, stewards souls here in public health and government, you know, we have to be great stewards of public resources. And I think that for us, it's that, you know, that sacred responsibility to maximize every public dollar that we have, every one that we that we have, to serve your needs, we need to do a good job of that. 00;16;18;01 - 00;16;39;09 Dr. Webb That's how you earn trust, right? We do that really well in the first year. Then we can talk about those bigger initiatives, those long term goals, the things that we need to tackle. Now we're going to walk and chew gum at the same time. We're still doing all of our programmatic objectives. But but that that idea that we want to ask the public to trust us to take on more of that leadership role in stewarding their health. 00;16;39;16 - 00;16;58;13 Dr. Webb We got to prove that in these first couple of months and years. So that's the first task. Second thing is to rebuild and strengthen trust. Trust is a huge thing for me here. And I think that starts with clear communication, being decisive, showing up before people have a crisis. Right. So I last Thursday I was down in Norfolk and meeting with community organizations. 00;16;58;13 - 00;17;20;04 Dr. Webb This hearing, the work they were doing on violence interruption or support, supporting mothers and infants and, and, and just community empowerment in general. And, you know, you could say, there were plenty of things that could have been sitting at my desk in Richmond doing last Thursday. But the reality is, I know that, and, you know, I said, this is my church growing up. 00;17;20;05 - 00;17;40;09 Dr. Webb You know, you're either, coming out of a crisis, going into a crisis, or in a crisis. Right? And so the reality is that no matter where we are, as of Virginia right now, you know, crises are coming. And when they come, you don't want to show up and start asking people to do things if you've never met them before. 00;17;40;09 - 00;17;57;06 Dr. Webb And if you haven't built any kind of rapport. So we're trying to show up in our communities and, and earn that trust and have those conversations long before we're asking them to amplify messages. Right. It really starts with saying, I'm here, and how can I help you? What do you need from me? And that's really what I'm what I'm doing. 00;17;57;06 - 00;18;19;10 Dr. Webb So my first 75 days, I mentioned being down in Norfolk last Thursday. You know, next week I'm going to be in Farmville. I'm going all over the Commonwealth, over these next 75 days, intentionally to try to get that those conversations started because there's 8.8 million people in Virginia. I can't meet everybody. But just trying to make it our practice to get out and about and around. 00;18;19;10 - 00;18;41;16 Dr. Webb That's one of the things the governor really wanted me to do. And one of the things I think is going to be really important. So the next thing is listening before deciding what I missed in the first 75 days, you know, we're describing it as a listening tour. By day two, this may shock some of you, but by day two of my time in this role, people were asking me what my vision or my plan was. 00;18;41;18 - 00;18;58;03 Dr. Webb And of course, I'm an opinionated person. And so I have I have thoughts, I have ideas, of course, but I think it would be an error for me to show up on day two and say, here all the ways we're going to fix healthcare in Virginia. I've got to talk to y'all before I get to what what we're going to do. 00;18;58;03 - 00;19;22;15 Dr. Webb Because if I haven't taken the time to hear from you, what's needed, how can I possibly tell people what we need to do? I know what it looks like in the community where I was working, where my family. I've got you know, five brothers and sisters who live in different parts of Virginia. And, and so for me, I know what their experiences are like cousins and my wife's family and and also other community members or community leaders that I talk to across the Commonwealth. 00;19;22;15 - 00;19;41;15 Dr. Webb I know those experiences, but I need to broaden that aperture a little bit. I need to really understand what communities are experiencing, because that's where we say the collective genius comes in, is when we really start to to move things forward collectively. That's where we we really find the impact. So it's that idea of listening before we decide the the course. 00;19;41;20 - 00;20;06;03 Dr. Webb That's going to be something we'll continually do over these years and include communities in that decision making. I want to be clear what I, when I say, include communities. Somebody from Norfolk said this so well last week and they said, we want you to either walk beside us or behind us. And I love that that idea that, you know, it's communities that we're in lockstep with, that we're arm in arm with, and we're not telling people where to go. 00;20;06;03 - 00;20;26;17 Dr. Webb They're telling us they're telling us where to direct our resources, because ultimately we work for you. And I think that's so important. What I'm describing to you people sometimes called public health 3.0, it's kind of the next evolution of public health. It's trusted messengers, it's open dialog. It's science that we're translating through research. That's what we're aiming to do. 00;20;26;20 - 00;20;50;28 Dr. Webb And and I also want to add, this this idea is also about naming and discussing the impact of systemic racism and naming medical exploitation and and naming some of the inequities we see in the cancer space. And naming how painful, watching those inequities unfold in real time with Covid 19 was trust. We can't build that just with the press release. 00;20;50;28 - 00;21;11;00 Dr. Webb It's built in conversations like the ones we're having today. And so that's what we're really I want to lean into over these next couple years. In the final thing, when I say it true, North or north Star? For me, it's equity is that idea that we want to make health possible for every Virginian. And and that's, you know, for us focusing on measurable outcomes. 00;21;11;00 - 00;21;35;00 Dr. Webb What does it look like to achieve goals that are actually advancing the health and well-being of communities? You know, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So what does it look like to prevent people from getting sick and not just exist as a sick care system, you know, and really meaning that when we say it, trying to reduce some of those gaps in life expectancy that we see, by geography and reduce some of the preventable deaths as well. 00;21;35;02 - 00;21;52;26 Dr. Webb We see that a lot in terms of the overdose conversation. But but there's also a lot of other preventable deaths in terms of, of some of our vaccine preventable illnesses, some preventable hospitalizations from the failure to properly manage chronic disease. We want to improve maternal and child health. We want to expand access to preventive care services. 00;21;52;26 - 00;22;15;00 Dr. Webb These are all things that, again, this is the core, of this work. And as we looked at, kind of strengthen that infrastructure, I think, that's one of the ways that we'll really make some progress. So, so those are some of the goals, that I have. I think I'll end by saying this, and I'm welcoming you all as questions and in, in the conversation that we'll have in a minute. 00;22;15;00 - 00;22;34;15 Dr. Webb But this is a unique role as both faith leaders that you have, in this work moving forward. And, and I think that, you know, like it, love it or hate it, faith leaders, are healthy ambassadors. I tell this story sometimes, and I always wonder if my mom is going to hear this story one day, because should probably be mad at me. 00;22;34;15 - 00;23;00;21 Dr. Webb But don't don't tell on me. But my mom is a woman of deep faith. You know, she she really lives by that notion that Jehovah Rapha, by his stripes, we are healed. And and I think for her, she takes that so literally. And she was diagnosed, years ago with a medical condition. And several years later, you know, one of her doctors was asking her about her conditions, and she didn't list it. 00;23;00;21 - 00;23;19;11 Dr. Webb I asked my mom afterwards. I said, why didn't you tell your doctor about that, the condition you were diagnosed with? And she said, well, God took that away. I don't I don't claim that that doesn't have dominion over me. And so I don't report it as part of my medical history. I was like, mom, I feel like it's important for you to share. 00;23;19;11 - 00;23;47;06 Dr. Webb And I think part of the testimony is that you were diagnosed with this, but you're not having complications from it anymore, that you're not suffering in any way from it. And that God is has protected you. He has kept you. He's held you. But, you know, it's important that that's something that's part of that history. That's something that you overcame with, you know, through God and, and, you know, she patted me on my, on my head and said, you know, thank you, but but no. 00;23;47;09 - 00;24;21;17 Dr. Webb You know, I think at the end of the day, you know, that's conversations, that's dialog she's having with with her pastor, with other, you know, friends as they talk about prayer and healing and, and I think that your role as health ambassadors is helping people navigate that experience of being people filled with faith, navigating a world, where sometimes God enacts, you know, his healing through some of the healers he appoints. And I tell people all the time, when I was walking into the hospital, I worked nights at UVA. 00;24;21;19 - 00;24;52;02 Dr. Webb Every single night I would turn the corner, to walk down the street, and I would I would see this one corner of the building, and that was my mental trigger to start my prayer. And as I walked from that moment into the building, I pray that God gave me discernment. And he gave me kindness, that he gave me wisdom, that he allowed me to show up in the patient rooms, that I needed to show up and that he allowed me to to seek the help that I needed to recall the things that would be helpful in a moment's notice, and to be the person he needed me to be that night, to take care 00;24;52;02 - 00;25;15;19 Dr. Webb of his children. That was my prayer every single night, walking into the hospital. And just the fact that that I recognized that some of that grounding allowed me to show up for people in a different way. And that's how I also am reminded that, you know, that is in some ways what we need to relate to our communities, that there doesn't have to be an adversarial relationship, that sometimes we are in the hope that you know, that our God is sending, people. 00;25;15;25 - 00;25;34;26 Dr. Webb And I think that's going to help people, you know, shape their beliefs, shape their norms. Counter misinformation, identify who it is, who's there to help them and allow you to connect them with the care that they need. And so, you know, when a pastor says, you know, go get that cancer screening, it carries weight. You know, when I'm pastor says, you know, make sure you're getting your blood pressure checked. 00;25;35;01 - 00;25;57;06 Dr. Webb It carries weight. And I think those are things that we want to continue to engage with. And you all know that, better than anyone. I want to be a good partner to you in that. So. So I'll close just by saying this. You know, my my vision for Virginia is pretty simple. It's it's that I want to live in a commonwealth where your health isn't determined by your race, by your income, by your zip code, or by your diagnosis. 00;25;57;10 - 00;26;27;10 Dr. Webb I want to live in a Virginia where everybody has that opportunity to be healthy. And and the way I think about it is public health. That's one of these spaces where, you know, how we love our neighbor is at scale. You know, my neighbors are 8.8 million people. And and, if we get this right, if we run a really excellent public health system, if we build trust intentionally, if we focus on measurable impact, that then Virginia really can become a national model for what equitable and accountable public health looks like. 00;26;27;10 - 00;26;40;01 Dr. Webb And so with that, I'm just really grateful for y'all, for taking the time, to to allow me to speak today and, and look forward to any questions you have. I see a couple in the chat, but, but really looking forward to the conversation. 00;26;40;04 - 00;26;44;04 Dr. Sutton Well, thank you. Let me tell you, I just had to, like, go back to your bio because 00;26;44;04 - 00;26;57;11 Dr. Sutton I was like, I saw MD and I saw JD, I didn't see a doctor or a ministry. Ministry or like a theology because, like, you certainly did close that in a in the fashion. So you, one of the things I want to do, I'm sure there will be questions. 00;26;57;11 - 00;27;14;29 Dr. Sutton So you all make sure one of the things Doctor Webb said is that he's on a listening tour, so he's here to listen. So make sure you ask your questions. I know the chat is moving, so I want to draw everyone's attention before it moves out of view. That Doctor Tossas put some information in the chat about the flu vaccine this past year. 00;27;14;29 - 00;27;35;00 Dr. Sutton So make sure you take a look at that before it goes up too far. And then I do want to recognize, Pastor Williams comment about Three Rivers Health District with regard to making sure that folks are vaccinated, even before pharmacies had that available. So thank you for sharing that to Pastor Williams. We have I'm going to go ahead and I have some questions. 00;27;35;00 - 00;27;51;05 Dr. Sutton But you know what? I can send you an email later. If we don't get to my we're going to go to these here. So, Leonard Edlow did ask, say that data is so important. Will the health department return to giving numbers on Covid and flu? And Doctor Webb, I might add, because you did say modernizing our data system. 00;27;51;05 - 00;27;56;10 Dr. Sutton So if you could talk a little bit about that and then what we may expect to see moving forward with regard to data. 00;27;56;13 - 00;28;14;17 Dr. Webb Yeah. No. Absolutely. And so that's one of the first things I asked is how do we get data out there. The way that I see this is I use the phrase democratization of data. You know, if we put our data out there readily available, what I've told my colleagues here in the building is that it invites the public to take a look at those data. 00;28;14;17 - 00;28;35;18 Dr. Webb And, you know, the beautiful thing about the collective genius is that, folks will analyze it differently. They will see trends that are different. And if we invite them in the partnership with us to share their learnings, it creates a really unique opportunity to, to, really multiply our effectiveness. Right. And so so we absolutely are going to, are going to expand what data looks like. 00;28;35;18 - 00;28;55;13 Dr. Webb We're already starting to expand our, our process for, approving data requests. So that's one of the areas that we want to improve. I see Doctor Perry, who who's on, just dropped some of the respiratory disease data that's already there. And so you can go online, you can see the data on flu by the week, which is great. 00;28;55;13 - 00;29;20;16 Dr. Webb Right? So that information is available and just really, you know, both it's having the data available, but also drawing people's attention to the fact that that data is available for them to review. So, yes, we're going to be looking to really scale up, you know, our data and its availability and finding responsible ways to do that so that people can join into this process of understanding disease in our commonwealth, but also, navigating. 00;29;20;18 - 00;29;38;25 Dr. Sutton Great. Thank you. So I know you've only been in for 32 days. You know, we'll try to try to take a little easy on you. But one of the things you talked about was place. And, I found that interesting. One of the things when, Doctor Winn arrived, now it's been, I think, a little over five years, he talked a lot about zip code. 00;29;38;27 - 00;29;50;27 Dr. Sutton And so I'm interested in what you've seen across the state with regard to like maybe some geographic areas with some challenges that we need to address with regard to some of the chronic illnesses or chronic diseases. 00;29;51;00 - 00;30;05;25 Dr. Webb Yeah. Well, and I'll start by saying I'm, I'm still doing a lot of that learning. You know, I'm actually meeting with all of our district directors. So, you know, Doctor Perry and I met with all of the Central Virginia district directors last week. So and I was down in Norfolk, met with some of the district directors, Virginia Beach, Norfolk. 00;30;05;25 - 00;30;23;08 Dr. Webb I've met with this director in the Hampton Peninsula. So, so really trying to get around and learn, those experiences, as they say, if you've seen one health district, you've seen one health district. And so it's really important for me to take that time to learn. So I'm careful not to draw conclusions, you know, in the middle of things. 00;30;23;08 - 00;30;46;26 Dr. Webb But what I will say is it's really clear that there are so many different health experiences across this Commonwealth that it's impossible to have a one size fits all solution. We really have to be responsive to the unique needs of our communities, and that includes the unique healthcare needs. So what they need in hospitals and clinics, but also, the unique needs in terms of social drivers and social determinants of health. 00;30;46;26 - 00;31;07;17 Dr. Webb And one of the things that are making people sick, how can we partner across government in housing spaces, food access spaces, education spaces, income support to help people stay healthy. So so I think that's a lot of our work. The good news is that we've got some great folks across this agency and our district directors are passionate about this work, and I call them, you know, my my best teachers, right. 00;31;07;17 - 00;31;31;09 Dr. Webb Because they're telling me then the chief health strategists in their respective districts, and they're telling me what they're seeing. And my charge to them is tell me what you need, right, so I can help, help, help you get what you need to serve your community. I think the more we empower and lean into that idea that, you know, the district director where you live, that's the person who's the closest to you, that's who's in charge of kind of coming up with the strategy for that community. 00;31;31;11 - 00;31;47;28 Dr. Webb And we want to empower them to get what they need. That's going to help us make sure we're meeting the unique needs of every community. But there's there's a lot, you know, some communities, we see a lot more heart disease as the challenge. In some communities, we see a lot of cancer. You know, we see different rates of maternal mortality or maternal morbidity, right? 00;31;47;28 - 00;32;08;11 Dr. Webb In some communities. Vaccine rates vary in different communities. So we see different levels of vaccine preventable illness. And so I think across the board, we know that there are going to be differences. The key is can we get down to the root cause of those differences, including things like racism, including things like access to care and saying, how do we get to the bottom of that? 00;32;08;18 - 00;32;09;06 Dr. Sutton Yeah. 00;32;09;09 - 00;32;11;04 Dr. Sutton Yeah, absolutely. So 00;32;11;04 - 00;32;16;23 Dr. Sutton we have a question. Doctor Tossas, if you want to unmute yourself. 00;32;16;25 - 00;32;51;01 Dr. Tossas Good afternoon, Dr. Webb. I'm over here feeling like, you know, I don't know if you ever heard Dr. Winn, and he gets all excited and he's like, this is hot. Like fire. This is I am, you know, my I'm just so excited and moved by, you said all the things right? Collective wisdom you've talked about, you know, how much place matter, all these differences, how we have this health district directors who are our partners and stewards of the health in their communities and, you know, working alongside or behind community. 00;32;51;01 - 00;33;14;11 Dr. Tossas I mean, I'm so I'm really excited. I'm but of course, given our current political environment, I can't help but, you know, ask, you know, as you and I know, conversations about equity and structural determinants of health can be, you know, labeled as woke. And so I'm just curious bring you as a as a public health leader, how would you balance staying grounded in science and, and community realities... 00;33;14;13 - 00;33;22;16 Dr. Tossas while also navigating those subtle pressures that could threaten funding or programs sustainability for for Virginians? 00;33;22;18 - 00;33;24;06 Dr. Webb No, I, I love that question. 00;33;24;06 - 00;33;30;19 Dr. Tossas And how can we support and protect you? Because we are big on supporting and protecting our leaders. 00;33;30;22 - 00;33;53;09 Dr. Webb I'll start with prayer. Right. So, so keep it up, folks. But but I think that, you know, I love that question because I, I wrestled with it before I came into this job. Is I know the federal headwinds that I'm facing and where I finally found peace was I said, all my heroes are the ones who stood up in these moments. 00;33;53;09 - 00;34;16;14 Dr. Webb And so, you know, that's that's the lesson that I'm following here. You know, I've already prepared our office of the attorney general here in Virginia. And I was just like, I'm going to take a bold and unapologetic take. It might result in the federal government saying, hey, we're taking these CDC dollars from you. They just did that to four states and said, you know, because they were too woke. 00;34;16;16 - 00;34;33;16 Dr. Webb But what you may not have seen in the news was that those four states sued the Trump administration by that night, and they got their money back by the next day. Right. And so that's the part that I think people aren't always seeing is that as long as we are prepared to execute, you know, we're in a in a good space. 00;34;33;20 - 00;34;52;06 Dr. Webb Here's the other part. And it's like, you know, I want to be tactical about that because I want communities to hear me standing up for them. The same way their district directors are standing up for them. But the other part of this is, I think that that that whole attack on wokeness, if you will, and, and even equity and diversity and inclusion is overly reductive. 00;34;52;06 - 00;35;14;10 Dr. Webb They don't have the level of nuance and understanding these concepts to where they're actually able to advance, their own part of the discussion. And so ultimately, I can you heard me actually described equity in depth in my remarks without actually saying equity when I said, make sure every Virginian has the opportunity to be healthy. Right? I can describe it at its core. 00;35;14;13 - 00;35;41;24 Dr. Webb And you can't use AI to find out if it's on my website, or find out if it's in my grant application. And as much as they want to see us advance health in rural communities as equity work. So that's where I'm just like, this is, you know, I, I, I feel very confident that we can do this work thoughtfully and very well and still receive our federal funding because at its core, it's here to make sure that communities have what they need to stay healthy. 00;35;41;26 - 00;36;07;15 Dr. Webb And so, and, and if and where they think, can you guys understand? I'm, I'm a black man in Virginia. The governor is a Democrat. We're going to have a target on our back anyway. So so there's I can play by all the rules and they're still going to try to take some funding. And so end of the day, our thing is let's just serve our community with excellence and make sure that we're ready to make our argument on the legal side, on the policy side and on the outcome side. 00;36;07;17 - 00;36;10;07 Dr. Webb And, and we'll let the rest sort it out. 00;36;10;10 - 00;36;21;14 Dr. Tossas Before that one does, too. I'm just going to quote the, philosopher, Bad Bunny and say, like to love without fear. And that's what we're doing. So thank you. We're here to support you. 00;36;21;16 - 00;36;22;20 Dr. Webb Thank you, thank you. 00;36;22;22 - 00;36;32;16 Dr. Sutton Thank you, Doctor Tossas. I see, Pastor Williams has his hand up. Pastor Williams. 00;36;32;19 - 00;36;33;12 Pastor Williams Me? 00;36;33;14 - 00;36;35;24 Dr. Sutton Yes. Go ahead. 00;36;35;27 - 00;36;36;01 Pastor Williams Thank 00;36;36;01 - 00;37;02;10 Pastor Williams Thank you Dr. Webb for your presentation. As you well know, I sent you a message inviting you to speak to us in your conversations group at some point in time. But one of the things that, I am concerned about, but just want to get a feel from you on, the health disparities that affect people of color is very significant. 00;37;02;12 - 00;37;39;12 Pastor Williams Yesterday I did a, a presentation on racism and diversity in the Northern Neck and what that looks like. And one of the things that has troubled us is the, issues of health, health disparities in that area. And we would like to have some idea of, how you are looking potentially to address that. I know you've only been there for a while, but I'm sure that that you've thought about it to some degree. 00;37;39;14 - 00;38;04;07 Pastor Williams But, I'm really concerned as to how you would address that, and how would...how can we help you put things in place to ensure that our communities have factual, truthful information and then acknowledge programs to address those health disparities? 00;38;04;10 - 00;38;25;10 Dr. Webb Well, first of all, you're asking all the right questions, and I love it. And it was so eloquently framed and so thoughtful that I'm shocked that you got a Dallas Cowboys logo in the background. Everything about you is showing me excellence and intellect. And then I just don't get it. So we'll figure that out. There's still time. 00;38;25;10 - 00;38;29;08 Dr. Webb There's not a...we can still covert you. We can still convert you. 00;38;29;10 - 00;38;34;21 Dr. Winn Doctor Webb, this is where grace has to come in play. 00;38;34;23 - 00;38;56;29 Dr. Webb That’s right. God’s not through with him yet. That's okay. So so to your question, though, you know, it's interesting when I'm taking care of a patient, I can't treat their blood pressure if I don't measure it. When I'm taking care of a patient, I can't treat their anemia if I don't measure it. I can't take care of people and treat things that I don't see. 00;38;57;01 - 00;39;20;13 Dr. Webb And I think that when it comes to health inequities, it starts with collecting the data disaggregated by race and ethnicity to to such an extent that we can actually see the problems, but also go a step further and understand the root of those problems, the connection with other, you know, dynamics in communities. And so I think for us, this is a part of that, that modernization of data that I talked about and making sure that we're measuring things. 00;39;20;21 - 00;39;38;04 Dr. Webb I'll be clear, the Trump administration has made it clear that if we try to collect certain data, that's one of the reasons why they'll try to take some funding from us. So we have to be we have to be thoughtful about, you know what, you know, what mechanisms we have to still get the information we need and still have the resources to get that information. 00;39;38;07 - 00;40;02;22 Dr. Webb But I think that it starts with measuring a lot of, a lot of these phenomena so that we can so we can intervene appropriately. I think the next thing is, is once we see it, once we measure it, then we talk about with the proper treatment and, you know, for years and health disparity space. We talked about the treatment being, giving people access to their medications or, or making sure they can see their doctors when they need to see them. 00;40;02;24 - 00;40;24;23 Dr. Webb But we want to get upstream of that, like, how do we keep communities healthy? So if we see these trends happening in our communities. Generation by generation by generation, how do we intervene? And so one thing I talk about a lot is taking a life course approach to public health and thinking about how do we create, healthy people from the moment of birth until the end of their life? 00;40;24;29 - 00;40;42;07 Dr. Webb And so what is it that helps make sure that you have a healthy start to life? It helps to make sure that you have a healthy start to your your time in school, heading into kindergarten, getting those vaccines, a healthy start, a healthy experience through school help you navigate some of the mental health challenges and the risk of substance abuse and all those sorts of things. 00;40;42;10 - 00;41;08;23 Dr. Webb But also still getting the vaccines you need to avoid preventable illnesses, a healthy start to adulthood. Managing, you know, the idea of prevention, you know, for years, especially in communities of color, we lose, especially men for a stretch of decades until somebody tells them that blood pressure is high at a health fair or until somebody tells them they've got diabetes or until they're, you know, their wife who helps keep them alive is the one saying, you need to go get that. 00;41;08;23 - 00;41;26;06 Dr. Webb Check that right. It takes so much time. But how do we keep people plugged in health care for routine reasons? That's another reason why vaccine is helpful with the touch point of vaccinations, I hope. But I think that, you know, if we take this life course approach all the way until folks are aging with grace and with dignity, and we're helping give them the resources they need. 00;41;26;08 - 00;41;45;04 Dr. Webb Yeah. And every step along that way, we can engage our communities and keep them healthier. And so you can't you know, our governors are elected in four year cycles. You can't fix that in four years. This has to be part of a broader strategic plan for the health of Virginians. And I think that's where the health district is, is so powerful because they're here beyond the time of a governor. 00;41;45;04 - 00;42;02;08 Dr. Webb You know, my role, my appointment is for this governor. But I think that the reality is that's where the core of that work is. And and moreover, not just the district directors, but you all, right? As the stewards and the keepers of the needs of your community, you keep people accountable to that long term strategic plan. So I think that's a lot of it. 00;42;02;11 - 00;42;18;13 Dr. Webb And I think that, as things are moving, the last thing I'll say is please keep us posted, let us know what you're seeing, what you're hearing, what you're feeling in your communities and what you need, because that's ultimately how we address it. You have you are up close and personal, and you know very well what you see in your communities. 00;42;18;20 - 00;42;30;29 Dr. Webb So make sure you share that with in your health district, because that's what makes its way to us, you know, here in at VDH and more broadly. And we can use that to make more decisions about policy. 00;42;31;01 - 00;42;43;26 Dr. Sutton One of the you mentioned. So I got to actually a direct message and I'm wondering if you can explain. So someone was asking me about you mentioned disaggregated data. But can you, can you define and explain what that means? So someone sent me a message about that. 00;42;44;01 - 00;43;07;09 Dr. Webb Yeah. Disaggregated data. So what I mean by that I'll give you an example from Covid 19. In, in, I'll use the example of, of the Asian community. And what we found is that when we looked at the data early on, it looked like Asian-Americans were getting vaccinated more than even white Americans. And so we were focusing that energy on supporting communities of color. 00;43;07;09 - 00;43;34;00 Dr. Webb We focused on the Hispanic community. We focused on the black community. And we didn't spend as much time focus on the Asian community. What we found is that if you actually broke down Asian into a lot of ethnicities, into a lot of other countries of origin, you would find that there were huge disparities in terms of outcomes. And so very quickly, data, when it's broken down into how and where people live in different ways, then you really get a sense of what's happening. 00;43;34;00 - 00;43;55;10 Dr. Webb So in our data more broadly, if you just say Virginians have this level of heart disease, you're going to miss the fact that different communities within Virginia have very different outcomes. And so I think that's what I mean when we say disaggregated. We break it down into different populations so we can see what's happening. And I think that's really important. 00;43;55;12 - 00;44;15;18 Dr. Webb I want to take a quick second because I got a, private message on the side. So if I could. It's, you know, some of our, some of our colleagues and I've got colleagues even from VDH who are here on this call, and talking about some of the programs that we have going on here that are advancing the health of our communities. 00;44;15;20 - 00;44;38;05 Dr. Webb I want to tell you what I've witnessed in these first 32 jobs, 32 days on the job. Virginians are lucky. I mean, we have an amazing group of professionals who are passionate about your communities, who have been fighting for you every single day. And I'll use the example of our team, that's leading some of our HIV work here in Virginia. 00;44;38;07 - 00;44;57;14 Dr. Webb And the Ryan White Part B program. And, and this is a team that's been so committed to serving the needs of a community. You know, I tell people all the time, actually, for me, I decided to be an internist because I was passionate about addressing the HIV epidemic. You know, for me, I saw that as one of the biggest disparities that we had. 00;44;57;14 - 00;45;15;16 Dr. Webb And it was right there in our face. And so, you know, one thing that I've learned very quickly is that we've got the technical expertise, the leadership, the passion and the ability right here in this agency. I think that kind of the next step is how do we unleash that? How do we connect that to the resources that it needs? 00;45;15;18 - 00;45;37;13 Dr. Webb But I think the other part of that is how do we make sure that, that when there's trust that's been fractured, that we find really thoughtful ways to reset and say, hey, I understand sometimes things didn't go the way that we needed them to go. And it's not because people don't care about you. Sometimes there are systems and structures that descend on you. 00;45;37;15 - 00;45;54;28 Dr. Webb That's what happens. But we're here, we're passionate, and we're here to help you. And so I just wanted to give that shout out to one of my, my teams here because, because I have seen firsthand and, and other folks in the organization have advocated, just said, hey, we've got amazing leaders here, and I've seen it, and that's what I know. 00;45;54;28 - 00;46;08;21 Dr. Webb And so part of my job is that, you know, where it serves us, intervene and help and make sure that they're able to do their work well and where it serves us, get out the way and let them do their job well. So I just wanted to put that flag out there. 00;46;08;23 - 00;46;27;17 Dr. Sutton All right. Perfect. We are coming close to finishing. However, we do get one more question if you could address this. So this is from, Doctor Art Kellerman, asked to comment on whether the Department of Health will be open to public health students in Virginia, including VCU, in town, do practicums internships with the department? 00;46;27;20 - 00;46;57;05 Dr. Webb Absolutely. And, and, doctor and I know, Jeff Stover actually lead some of that work. We actually had a record number of people apply for our internship program this year. But we definitely want to find mechanisms to get more people involved. What I think some people may have, may, may have gone unnoticed was that, you know, because of all the, the pain and the strain of the Covid pandemic, we lost a lot of people from the public health space over these last few years, lost a lot of institutional knowledge. 00;46;57;08 - 00;47;13;21 Dr. Webb And, you know, I'm a professor in public health school, division public health scientists. I was teaching public health students, and they were going up to Washington to become consultants. A lot of times, rather than coming in, embedding in community and doing that core public health work, because, you know, they saw the struggle is all folks are going through. 00;47;13;22 - 00;47;31;09 Dr. Webb We have to find a way to to really, make sure people see this is the same profession in the same space that people are in because of the impact they can have and the connection they can have. And, and and so really want to make sure that, that we lift them up. So yes, we want to get, get students and learners here. 00;47;31;11 - 00;47;43;12 Dr. Webb We'll find creative ways even if they can't be a part of the internship. Please feel free to reach out with suggestions and opportunities and we'll see what we can do. Because we want to get more, more new blood into the public health space to serve our community. 00;47;43;15 - 00;48;01;29 Dr. Sutton Great. Well, I'll tell you, Doctor Tossas asked about how we could, you know, help and partner. And if nothing else, I want you to recognize that Facts and Faith, we are here. We are a group. A mighty group of, you know, faith leaders, folks from the cancer center, the School of Public Health. I sit in the College of Humanities and Sciences. 00;48;02;03 - 00;48;22;25 Dr. Sutton We have some amazing community partners who lead amazing organizations. We're one big family, and we're definitely here to support you. As you go through the next couple of years, this definitely would not be your last time here. As we as I'm sure you're listening, tour will go on throughout the tenure of your tenure. So, we just want to thank Doctor Webb, for joining us today. 00;48;22;25 - 00;48;28;07 Dr. Sutton This was a really good conversation. I thank you all. Who who came for asking your questions. 00;48;28;10 - 00;48;36;21 Dr. Sutton And before we leave, I am going to ask Doctor Christian if she would please lead us in prayer. 00;48;36;24 - 00;48;43;22 Dr. Christian Thank you. And thank you, Doctor Webb. Let us pray. 00;48;43;24 - 00;49;16;05 Dr. Christian Heavenly father, thank you for bringing us together on this Friday to help us to bridge the gap between knowledge and belief. Thank you for the wisdom that has been shared on this call, and for the insights of our health experts. As we leave this session, we ask that you help us to carry these facts not just in our minds, but in our hearts, so that we would be effective ambassadors for health in our communities. 00;49;16;07 - 00;49;19;03 Dr. Christian Lord, we lift you up. 00;49;19;05 - 00;49;26;25 Dr. Christian And we lift up to you the ongoing work of addressing health inequities and preventing disease. 00;49;26;27 - 00;50;01;17 Dr. Christian We ask that you would grant wisdom to the researchers, to doctors, to community partners working to protect your people. May our efforts to share accurate information bear fruit that leads to healthier lives and more resilient communities. As we move into the weekend, protect us, guide us, and remind us that you are the ultimate source of healing and strength. We ask these things in your name. Amen. Amen. Amen. 00;50;01;18 - 00;50;06;29 Dr. Sutton You all have a great weekend and I'm secretly praying for more snow! Bye everyone and have a great one! 00;50;07;01 - 00;50;07;26 Dr. Winn Everybody have a great