[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We are joined once again by our good friend and colleague Patricia Costante, founding member of the EJI Excellence in Medicine Fund and also a board member at the New Jersey Health Foundation, one of our underwriters supporting our healthcare programming.

Patricia, good to see you.

- It's nice to see you too, Steve.

- Patricia, we had this offline conversation recently about public health and trust or distrust in the public health system.

We'll put a graphic up.

A working title, Trust in Public Health we’ll drive people to our website to find out more.

Why is the question of trust/distrust in the public health system today so incredibly important now, more than ever, Patricia.

- So, Steve, I have spent my whole career healthcare adjacent and one of the things I have always been so proud of is the United States as leaders in scientific research and how that fueled the public health system and kept us all safe in a world that can be terribly unsafe.

And it's so disheartening to me now to see the undermining of science and of research all around issues like vaccine safety, really rolling back decades and decades of work rather than putting us in a position where we can celebrate the successes we've had through the funding, the really robust funding of scientific research.

It's heartbreaking.

- You know, Patricia, and by way of background, Patricia and I have been colleagues and friends for over 20 years, and we've had all kinds of conversations about medicine, physicians.

Patricia has been a key partner of ours in our Tomorrow's Physicians Leaders with the late Dr.

George Heinrich of New Jersey Health Foundation.

But here's the thing.

There's always been some degree of distrust and questioning of public health vaccines.

What's different in 2025 going into 2026, Patricia?

- What I personally believe is there was a time when scientists were viewed as people of integrity, and physicians were viewed as people of integrity.

And as we tried to make our independent decisions about which aspects of medicine or scientific discovery or vaccines we trusted or distrusted, we went to those sources looking for information to support our belief.

That's what I think is different.

People are not looking to expert sources of information.

They're looking at things that are on social media that are so divorced from scientific inquiry that it makes it very difficult to say that this is the same level of scrutiny that happened in the past.

It's very different and very disheartening.

- So, along these lines, Patricia, what role do you believe that we, in media, in public media, in media, not gonna pat us on the back, but we have no horse in the race, we have no agenda other than credible public information that matters to the masses and is peer reviewed and whatever that means to people, it means it's legitimate.

It's not fake news.

They're not alternative facts.

Question.

When it comes to vaccines, we've had so many people, prominent people come on and say, "It's my choice."

"MMR vaccine with my kid.

Nah, it's parental rights."

Help folks understand why, okay, you have certain rights clearly, but what you choose to do or not do as it relates to vaccines, impacts.

My mother's 90.

You understand this as someone you know who cared for your mom, right?

Not just older people, but people whose immune systems are vulnerable.

Does it not affect everyone, Patricia?

- Correct.

It's the whole concept of herd immunity and being able to- - Explain that again; herd immunity.

- You know, vaccinate a population to a level where everyone is protected and not only within our own community, but there's so much impact now with global transparency and how people move from environment to environment that our stance on vaccines not only affects the United States, it affects the world, and I think that we each, as citizens, have to think about what our responsibility is vis-a-vis that issue.

- And the media has a unique responsibility.

- Right.

And I think the importance of public media, mainstream media, being able to speak out and provide peer-reviewed information that people can trust is really important.

We are at a point where people don't know what to trust, and I think that media has to step up and really fill in some of the gaps.

- Patricia, before I let you go, remind folks, and we'll put up the website for the EJI Excellence in Medicine Awards.

Remind folks, we've been doing that.

you helped make that happen at MDAdvantage Company you were the CEO and chairman of for many years.

Explain to folks what that is.

You and I have been co-MCing and hosting it for years.

What is it, and why is it so important to the future physicians of our state and nation?

- So the Excellence in Medicine awards are two pronged.

We recognize really superior healthcare experts, physicians, scientists, executives throughout the state of New Jersey.

And through recognizing them, we have the opportunity to provide scholarships to medical students, dental students, pharmacy students, and really give them the opportunity to enter into providing care, especially in the state of New Jersey which has a pretty significant shortage, especially of primary care physicians.

So it's an opportunity to close that gap and something I'm very proud of.

- And I humbly am proud to play a small part in that great event every year with so many people making a difference in the world of medicine.

Patricia, as always, thank you, my friend.

We appreciate it.

We'll talk soon.

- And thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.

The Adler Aphasia Center.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Johnson & Johnson.

The Fidelco Group.

And by Kean University.

Promotional support provided by NJBIZ.

And by Meadowlands Media.

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