- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Here when you need us most, now and always.

Wells Fargo.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

NJIT makes industry ready professionals in all STEM fields.

Johnson & Johnson.

Summit Health a provider of primary, specialty, and urgent care.

United Airlines.

The Fidelco Group.

And by Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ, informing and connecting businesses in New Jersey.

And by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The jobs of tomorrow are not the jobs of yesterday.

- Look at this.

You get this?

- Life without dance is boring.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- Do you enjoy talking politics?

- No.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

- Our culture, I don't think has ever been tested in the way it's being tested right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - We are now joined by Debbie Schlossberg, who is Patient Services Coordinator of Northern Central New Jersey at the ALS Association of Greater New York.

Debbie, great to have you with us.

- Hi Steve.

- Tell everyone what ALS is, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

- ALS stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

It's an unfortunately fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, and it results in muscle deterioration, eventually paralysis, and respiratory failure.

- And no cure per say for ALS?

- No cure, and not yet a very effective treatment either.

- How many Americans, how many people are suffering, dealing with ALS as we speak on July 12, of 2021?

- To the best of our knowledge, based on a registry that we maintain with the CDC, the prevalence, the numbers that we use today are about 17,000 Americans on any day living with ALS.

- You know, we do know some people who are dealing with ALS.

And I don't think people understand, you described what it is, but the debilitating impact that ALS has had on people.

I remember reading "Tuesdays with Morrie", you know extraordinary book, go out there and check it out.

And by the way, let's make sure we put up the ALS greater New York chapter website.

Describe the impact, because when I think about Morrie, this brilliant professor, this brilliant man, and how Mitch Albom in his book, really described the deterioration that Morrie experienced.

Tell folks what actually happens.

- Well, the slightly tricky part of that description, is that it affects everybody differently.

It can present differently.

One person can present or start with some muscle weakness in their legs, or their arms.

Sometimes their neck.

Sometimes they come in and we meet them for the first time, and they're walking perfectly well, but they can't speak at all, and they can't swallow.

Very rarely, but also occasionally, the very first symptoms could be respiratory symptoms.

So it's a very challenging condition to really really describe, but what's universal in every case, is that it's a thief.

It robs a person of their ability, usually to ambulate, to use any of their muscles, to sit up straight.

And the prognosis is 2-5 years from the time of diagnosis.

So this all happens, and you know that's a statistical average.

So there are some people we know, not very long at all.

There are people whose lives extend way beyond 5 years, But every step along the way, there is a loss.

- Everyone has been affected by COVID in one way or another, but as we tape toward the end of the summer, July 2021, how has your organization's work been affected by COVID?

- It's been impacted pretty dramatically.

I mean, we are non-profit.

We rely very very heavily on first of all, financial peace, the charitable donations.

So like all non-profits, globally, and not to mention businesses globally, we have been impacted.

Our signature fundraising event is the "Walk to Defeat", and I would really ask your viewers to go to the website, - We'll put it up right now.

- More about the walk, thank you so much.

And these walks, pre COVID we have had 3 New Jersey walks.

And this is an opportunity for thousands of people to come together to honor and memorialize people with ALS, and to raise much needed funds.

So clearly, - Sure.

- That didn't happen last year.

We very deftly, not me, but our team, our walk team, pivoted to you know virtual walks, and of course our community was very very responsive and did their very best, but as you can imagine, we took a hit.

We did take a hit.

- But Debbie your organization very much committed to public awareness around ALS, A.

And B, the effort that has to do with the FDA and if I have this wrong tell me.

There's a drug , and I'm going to get the name wrong, you know I am.

It's the amx0035- - Sure.

- What is it?

It's an oral medication, and is there reason to be hopeful?

- Yes.

I'm not a scientist so you know- - Neither am I.

- Restrain what I say, but yeah sure.

It's actually a compound of two different drugs.

One is called TUDCA one is called sodium phenylbutyrate, and the research project was called CENTAUR.

The ALS Association supported this research very robustly, and it did very very well in it's phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.

Based upon those results, the ALS Association has joined with other associations and organizations, calling on the FDA to expedite it's availability.

What I would say right now to anybody who's watching, who is living with ALS, and is interested in this compound, is to speak to your doctor.

Maybe they can help.

- Yeah that is the person you should be interacting with.

Let's make sure we put the website up one more time.

Debbie before I let you go.

You're not a scientist, you're not a doctor, but you are very close to this community, those who are suffering with ALS and their family members.

How hopeful are you?

I mean beyond the ice bucket challenge as a one off, but that's not a sustained public awareness effort, and there's so much more work to be done.

Question, how hopeful are you that a cure if not meaningful help is in the near future for people suffering with ALS?

- The ALS Association has come out with a very bold statement saying that, we want to make ALS a livable disease.

In the time that I've been working with the ALS Association, which is about 16 years, you know when I came on board, there was one gene that was identified, now there are several.

I see where research has come from, and where it's going, and I'm very hopeful.

- Well we appreciate you joining us.

Debbie I promise we'll stay on top of this, and monitor the progress.

Particularly the FDA issue as it relates to that drug that I'm not even going to try and pronounce again.

Debbie thank you, and wish you and all your colleagues, but also even more importantly, all those who are dealing with ALS, and their families.

We wish them all the best.

Thank you Debbie.

- Thank you Steve.

- We'll be right back right after this.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined once again by Mike Maron, President and CEO of Holy Name Medical Center.

Good to see you, Mike.

- Good to see you, Steve.

Thanks for having me.

- Mike, a couple of areas I want to touch on.

Tell us exactly what this secure vaccine records initiative is and why it matters.

- So we know now that being able to demonstrate that you've been vaccinated has become an important part of reopening society.

It's gonna be an important part of keeping society safe as we go forward.

When Holy Name started its vaccine program, we wrote software end to end, from how an individual could schedule their appointment, right through how a vaccinator vaccinates you, records it, uploads the information to the New Jersey registry, but then actually provides you with a digital version of the card.

So everybody who's been vaccinated, has the CDC paper card.

- Got it right here.

- Yeah.

Well, many people lose them.

And over time, it's gonna weather and it's gonna not be readable much longer.

So we converted that card, to a digital format that you can now store on your iPhone in the Apple wallet, or on an Android that you can have stored as a PDF document.

So if you're traveling, if you need proof to get into a theater, you can actually pull the vaccine card up and demonstrate that you have been vaccinated.

The SEPA partnership puts a high-- - Who's SEPA?

- SEPA is a Swiss company, that deals in security of records.

- Okay.

- A very innovative, incredible group of brilliant people.

And they designed blockchain software, to allow for the secure access and confirmation of information.

So it's personal health information.

Not everybody wants it cavalierly sitting on their phone.

So what SEPA does, is puts a layer in between, using barcode technology and blockchain algorithms to confirm that you are who you are before you can actually visualize the document.

So it adds a layer of security, so that you can broadcast this openly, to everybody.

For us, and giving what we saw, and participating in the vaccine program, we believe strongly that everybody should carry a digital version of the vaccine card with them, have it readily available.

And if you're concerned about PHI, if you're concerned about fraudulent access, then the SEPA software gives you blockchain security and confirmation of authenticity, that the document you're looking at digitally is real and accurate.

- This is important on a lot of levels.

By the way, let me disclose, Holy Name Medical Center is an underwriter of our healthcare programming at the Caucus Educational Corporation.

And, Mike, real quick, can I get a minute, a minute and a half on this whole monoclonal antibody treatment?

What is it in layperson's language and why does it matter?

- Okay, so monoclonal antibody is a drug that gets, at the moment, infused into you.

Through COVID, there was a number of trials that were launched.

Regeneron is one of the major producers.

Eli Lilly is another.

And so we would, for people who were symptomatic of COVID tested positive, were in the early stages of COVID by injecting the monoclonal antibody.

Basically, think of it as a stimulant to your immune system.

- Is it like the vaccine?

- No, it's not really like a vaccine.

Vaccines are meant to get your body to respond as if it's being invaded by a virus.

The monoclonal antibody is a stimulant to your immune system.

And so it accelerates your ability to respond.

Right, slightly different.

And what we found is it had incredible positive impact on those individuals when it was infused at the right time.

And we became one of the largest participants in the study.

We've infused more people than any other site in terms of the monoclonal antibodies.

And so we believe the application of this type of medicine going forward, whether it's COVID or another virus, or other applications, are quite vast and very, very effective.

And so keeping our immune systems healthy, keeping them robust, keeping them responsive, is critical in this day and age as to with the population itself just grows, right.

The global, this was a global pandemic.

- Hey, Mike, listen, in the limited time we have left, and there's so many areas of healthcare we should be covering and continue to cover, by the way, look at our website, SteveAdubato.org.

Look at all of the interviews with healthcare leaders.

Many of Mike's colleagues, CEOs of hospital, hospital systems across the State, and other healthcare leaders, talking about COVID-related issues.

Last one, Mike, future of healthcare on this one.

Can you just tell me what you believe the future of quote "Telehealth" will be?

- I think it is here to stay in a very, very big way, Steve.

We are one of the, in fact, right now, we're the only hospital in New Jersey, who are participating in a program sanctioned by the CMS, which allows us to-- - CMS is the Federal Government?

- Right, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

And so we can take Medicare patients, admit them at home as if they were in the hospital here.

And Medicare is supporting this because, and using organizations that they feel comfortable, like Holy Name, who have advanced and who've demonstrated advanced enough technology to monitor you and track you in your home.

And so part of it became our robust telemedicine program in COVID.

When people initially were diagnosed here, we made every effort to keep you at home because it limited exposure to caregivers, it limited exposure to the general public.

It kept you in a very safe and isolated environment, your home.

And so there was great advantages to make every effort early on, rather than admit you to the hospital, to treat you as effectively and efficiently at home.

The only way we could do that was Telemedicine.

And this is a combination of video, but it's also a combination of vital sign and continuous monitoring, having oxygen and IV therapy at home.

So it's basically, other than the operating rooms, it's all the other, or most of the other components of an acute care hospital delivered in your home through technology.

- Healthcare will never be, it's such a cliche, never be the same, right?

- Never.

Nor should it.

I think it's one of, if there is a silver lining to the pandemic, and there are many, that's one of them, that healthcare will actually come out of this stronger, better, more innovative, and more advanced than we were before.

And we should never look to go back.

- Hey, Mike.

Mike, as always, thank you for joining us and providing valuable perspective.

Thank you, Mike.

- You're welcome, Steve, thank you.

Thanks for having me.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We are honored to once again be joined by our good friend Aqeela Sherrills, who is executive director of the community-based public safety collective, and also president of the Newark community street team.

Good to see you Aqeela.

- Wonderful to see you Steve.

- You are in Washington as we speak on July the 12th.

This will be seen later for a very important event.

President Biden bringing leaders from across the nation together to talk about violence, increased violence, particularly in urban communities and others.

What is, what are you expecting today and why is it significant?

- Today the White House is gonna just reiterate their support for a 16th city initiative in which the White House is in, or the federal government is investing significant dollars and more law enforcement strategy, as well as community-based solutions to be able to address urban violence and the spike of violence in urban neighborhoods across the country.

And so today we're just, you know, gonna have a conversation and the dialogue mayor's, law enforcement, community-based public safety professionals talking about how we will coordinate our collective efforts in cities, on the ground to one, prevent violence, you know, from spiking in the summer, but also lay the foundation for longer term public safety strategy.

- So Aqeela, let's put this right out there.

You joined us early on when we started our post there's no such thing as post George Floyd programming around police minority relations, because there's no ending to that effort it's an ongoing effort.

And I told you at the time, and I'll commit, we'll continue to do that.

But here's the thing that is difficult for so many.

How do we find the balance between police reform that drastic need or the need for drastic police reform, particularly as it relates to minority men, and women, disproportionately men who have been mistreated by certain police officers and police departments?

And this quote, "Defunding of the police departments across the nation, the demonization of police officers and police departments across the nation."

Which many believe has contributed to the increase in violence, particularly in urban communities.

I know there's not a real question there, but it can't be that there isn't some sort of balance that's better than what we have, please, sir.

- Yes.

Well the public execution of George Lloyd was an inflection point in this country in terms of public safety and public health, right?

No longer should we see law enforcement as this ubiquitous single point of contact for safety and our respective communities, right?

Law enforcement can't do this job alone and by themselves.

We've put so much pressure on our cops to be teachers and lawyers and therapists and counselors, but we haven't provided, you know, the subsequent support in terms of healing services and recovery services and therapeutic services for cops within the department, right?

The number one cause of a police officer's death is suicide.

You know, and we know who experienced the highest impact, you know of the trauma that they suffer, you know, when they don't get the proper support and services that they need, right?

So I'm a big advocate of the reform and reallocate dollars, you know, for law enforcement, we need them.

They're our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers.

We need policing in our respective community.

However, we can't discount that there has been documented history, we talk specifically about Newark you know, we have a consent decree in which there were documented history that law enforcement officers have perpetrated heinous violent acts against the public and we have to address it.

And so this is the conversation around reform and reform doesn't just means investing more dollars in, you know, procedural justice and deescalation strategies for cops.

It also means investing in complimentary strategies that are community-based, that are community-driven, that actually compliment, you know, law enforcement in terms of, you know, supportive service needs and, you know, kind of maintenance services.

- Aqeela, all that makes sense but devil's advocate follow-up is this, you know, I had this conversation recently on the radio regarding New York City violence and along with so many others are, one of our sons is going to be going university in New York City in the fall.

And I look at Washington Square Park and which is say, for arguments it's a metaphor, for urban centers across the nation.

And there's a strong sense on the part of many who abhor what happened to George Floyd and understand that police reform is required and demanded and long overdue, who believed that cops are now in a position not to enforce the law are backing off, which only promotes a sense of lawlessness on the part of many who say, "What are you going to do anyway?"

Because police are so afraid of the confrontation.

I know you understand what I'm saying.

And we got to talk to folks who are saying "Enough, enough of backing off".

But also "Enough of abusing people's rights".

- That's right.

We have to make sure that we provide the proper therapy, healing modalities, counseling services to our cops so that they can show up to community fully, like, present and grounded in their own humanity.

Right?

And so one of the challenges is that we're just not investing enough in that particular area in terms of police.

Right?

And so we have to invest in complimentary strategies because our cops weren't, you know, we hire police and deploy them in our communities to, you know, for law enforcement, you know, to protect and serve.

And it's like they're not to totality you know of law enforcement.

Right now, you know, you say "Public safety", and people say, "Police".

And so the public, in a certain sense, has advocated its responsibility in terms of the public safety process.

You can't have public safety without the public.

And we just haven't invested deeply enough income strategies to be able to provide the proper balance for our cops.

- Aqeela I'm sorry for interrupting I'm sorry for interrupting, but I get you and it's a large complex sociological policy question, cultural historical question but in the meantime, the question is this: to those who argue that cops are now, I'm not going to say gunshy because I don't even like using the term gun in the conversation, but they're hanging back.

They're not being as assertive and aggressive as they need to in stopping crime as it's happening, for fear of what the reaction is.

And a lot of that's an excuse to abuse people's rights, yes.

But some of it's legitimate.

What do you say to those who argue that cops are not allowed to be cops on the street, stopping violent crime, while all the things you just said absolutely need to be done.

- I would say that for all of those individuals, I would say that we really need to review our procedural justice like kind of strategies we've been policing.

That we've allowed, you know, officers you know without a lot of, kind of like oversight to one, harm themselves, but also harm the communities in which they're serving.

- No doubt.

No doubt- - Right?

And so it's like we have to review those policies internally.

Now if officers aren't, you know, they're saying, "Hey, we're not going out there because, you know, all of the pushback that we're getting."

I'm like, "Hey, it's legitimate."

There's legitimate concerns that- - But its not excuse me, Aqeela but it's not legitimate to hate police and make them victims on the other end of violence and whatever else goes on on the streets and that's happening as well, no?

- I don't think that people actually hate police.

I think that people- - Some do.

- They don't want to be- - Some do.

- They don't want to be harmed, you know, by law enforcement, by, you know, public servants that we pay to provide services for us- - Agreed.

- The community people don't- - But they're not the enemy.

Many- - They're our allies - Say that again?

- They're our allies and we need them.

We need our cops in the community in Newark, you know, and our public safety director, our chief you know many of our captains and patrol cops are the sons and daughters of the city you know, I think that people overwhelmingly respect and support police- - Why is it better in Newark?

Anthony Ambrose, our good friend, former public safety director gone, Mayor Baraka, had been with us many times.

Were a fan of yours.

Why is it better in Newark?

- It's better in Newark because we have leadership like Mayor Baraka.

We had, you know, Anthony Ambrose.

We had folks who really understood the public safety process and also understood violence as a public health issue.

And that those were mostly impacted by violence in community, in terms of this public- - [Steve] Black and brown.

- Right.

Need to be equipped with the skills, the tools and the resources to, you know, address the issue.

And so I think in Newark, what we've done over the past, like five to six years, we've invested in community-based infrastructure.

- [Steve] That's right.

- It's really given officers a break from having to be everything, you know?

And so now our cops, because we have the Newark community street team that's intervening in conflicts, that's mediating, you know, situations in the street where law enforcement is not able to, you know, to be able to respond.

We give our cops more time to be able to focus on the real, serious issues that are happening in neighborhoods.

- Which feels like a national model, Aqeela, which should be and listen, my job is not to editorialize, but I don't understand why that's not a national model.

- That's right.

Well, it's been lifted up now, and this is actually why the White House has invited both myself as well as, you know, Lieutenant Tony Lima who heads up the shooting team for Newark is also going to be today at the White House, because they wanted to speak with folks who are boots on the ground and how community-based public safety is actually working in partnership with law enforcement - That's right.

- To actually reduce violence and crime in cities.

- Oh, we need more Aqeela Sherrills out there.

Thank you, my friend, all the best in Washington at this conference on July 12th as we're taping, we'll continue the conversation with you as always, you and your colleagues are definitely part of the answer.

Thank you Aqeela.

- Thank you so much Steve, we appreciate you.

- Right back at you.

I'm Steve Adubato.

Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Wells Fargo.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Johnson & Johnson.

Summit Health United Airlines.

The Fidelco Group.

And by Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ.

And by The New Jersey Business & Industry Association.