Mountains and Margins: Healthcare Access in Western Maryland

To The Point Maryland Podcast: Season 1, Episode 1

This inaugural episode of the “to the POINT Maryland” podcast examines how geography shapes access to care. We are joined by outreach workers from Western Maryland, and together we review some of the issues including transportation barriers, workforce shortages, and informal support networks. What makes outreach here different? How does lived experience come into play to support the community?

Host
Leo Sheridan (Senior Capacity Building Manager) is a certified Community Health Worker residing in Baltimore city. He specializes in workforce development, drug user health, HIV prevention and care, and community-based public health initiatives. With a background spanning direct service and healthcare law, Leo works to strengthen the capacity of providers and community organizations serving disproportionately impacted populations. Leo has traveled throughout Maryland training CHWs through the TEACH program, certified outreach workers for HIV testing protocols with ALIVE Maryland, and has spoken and facilitated discussions surrounding rural healthcare access and polysubstance use.

Speakers
Chelsea McGraw is a certified peer recovery specialist III with the Washington County Health Department’s division of behavioral health services. Chelsea is from Baltimore, moved to Hagerstown in 2019, to be closer to family in the area, and started working in the peer support field in the community two years later. She took on her role with the health department in January 2023. With lived experience in both mental health and substance use issues, Chelsea says she works every day to try and help people see the light at the end of the tunnel. She never thought she could escape her own circumstances, but she has surpassed her expectations, and now uses her deep empathy and the good she sees in everyone to help people see the good in themselves. She firmly believes that “you have to take care of yourself first, because you cannot pour from an empty cup.”

Rebecca Merrell is a certified peer support specialist on the mobile recovery response team with the Washington County Health Department’s division of behavioral health services. Originally from El Paso, Texas, Rebecca grew up in New Mexico, and made her way to Maryland in 2008. She has spent the last four years with the health department, but initially went to school to become an EMT, and enjoys that she now works closely with emergency personnel on the job. Rebecca has the lived experience to be a good listener and very compassionate, and enjoys meeting people and hearing their stories. She believes it is important to be present and dependable, to show up for the community and build relationships, so that when people are ready to utilize available services, she can be there.