The Center for Health Equity & Community Wellness (CHECW) seeks to eliminate racial and other inequities resulting in premature mortality. With an unwavering grounding in history and structural analysis, CHECW works to increase visibility of the harm perpetuated by centuries of racist, socially unjust policy while pushing towards redress for the most impacted NYC communities. CHECW addresses inequity across community and healthcare systems in partnership with community, faith-based, and environmental and commercial determinants, and addresses both upstream and downstream factors to improve health and well-being of New Yorkers. CHECW is comprised of the Bureau of Bronx Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Brooklyn Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Harlem Neighborhood Health, the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention, the Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building, the Bureau of Equitable Health Systems and the Bureau of Finance, Administration and Services. The division's Deputy Commissioner also serves as the Agency's Chief Equity Officer and oversees Race to Justice, the Agency's internal reform effort to help our staff learn what they can do to better address racial health gaps and improve Health outcomes for all New Yorkers.
The Division's Deputy Commissioner also serves as the Agency's Chief Medical Officer. The Bureau of Health Equity Capacity Building (HEBC) seeks to implement collective strategies to build community power and capacity to address health inequities and the social determinants of health. The bureau is comprised of the Policy and Partnership Unit, to align the agency's programming to address the social determinants of health and root causes of health inequities including structural racism; the Health Equity Capacity Unit, to increase placed-based investments to priority neighborhoods and work with communities and neighborhood to build capacity to confront health inequities; the Neighborhood Behavioral Health and Resiliency Unit will implement trauma informed community methods to prepare, prevent and respond to neighborhood crisis, and close the gap in community-based behavioral health services, increase access to intervention and address stigma of treatment. Rooted in principles of health equity, the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) values a multi-strategy, trauma-informed approach to reduce risk factors for violence. VPI highlights the social context that leads to violence in disinvested communities, prioritizes solution that help to address behavioral and structural impediments, and works across systems and communities to reinvest in neighborhoods most affected by violence. As part of its work, VPI supports two programs: local hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs) that aim to reduce readmission and retaliations due to violent injuries th