The VNACJ Community Health Center is very excited to welcome Dr. Mervin Griffin to the team! Dr. Griffin will be starting in July and providing care in our Asbury Park location for Ryan White, LGBTQ+ and other patients. He comes to us with a rich history of experience in Emergency Medicine, HIV/Aids Treatment Programs, Public Health and caring for Vulnerable Populations, Prisoners and other at risk groups. He is a great advocate for our services and we asked him several questions to help our community to get to know him a little better.
How did your experience growing up influence your desire to become a doctor?
I was born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn—an area confronting one of the highest crime and lowest health rates in the country and populated by a rich diversity of black / brown people. I got to experience the very Social Determinants of Health that experts indicate are as influential on one’s health as one’s genetics. Today, East New York is one of the epicenters of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic with some of the highest rates of incidence and mortality. But I was also passionate about learning and that helped me to gain entry into one of the country’s top preparatory schools through the “A Better Chance” Program. My interest in Medicine grew there and I went on to Harvard, with a full scholarship, to study Economics and Pre-Med and then on to UCLA Medical School in Los Angeles – the Charles R. Drew program.
How did your time at UCLA fuel your interest in public health?
I trained at MLK Jr. Medical Center in Watts, Compton at the height of Crips versus Bloods gang violence and the level of extreme injury from gang violence was staggering. At that time there was a Proposition 13, which denied care to Latino émigrés, and that affected a large number of gang members.
I sponsored and established a “medical student division” within the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) to address urban gang violence and challenged Proposition 13. That helped me to be Selected as one of 24 students for our “dedication of care” to Underserved Communities.
That commitment to providing care then brought you to Emergency Departments around the nation and at some very tough times. Could you share a bit more about that?
I had the opportunity to return to my roots in NYC to practice Emergency Medicine in Manhattan and Harlem. I also did a Fellowship as an EMS there and had the opportunity to see things from the pre-hospital perspective, while working with the world’s largest EMS system. I was a trauma doctor in New York City during the first wave of Covid, when things were so bad that we were intubating thirty patients a shift. I was also the Director of Emergency Medicine for the University of Alabama/University of Mississippi during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and helped design their Emergency and Regional Response System. Part of that was expanding services to rural areas through helicopter EMS and providing medic van services and telemedicine to remote and impoverished poor marginalized areas.
Providing health care to marginalized people has always been one of your passions. Is that what led you into your studies in “Population Health?”
Yes, I went on to get a Master’s degree from John Hopkins School of Public Health and completed it during the Covid-19 Pandemic. I was often called on to present online lectures about the relationship between the EBOLA virus/Covid-19 and their at-risk populations. Population health focuses on understanding the factors that influence the health of populations, such as: social determinants of health; behavioral factors; environmental factors and Healthcare System factors. In prior years, I also had a wonderful physician, diplomat and mentor, Dr. Robert C. Scott, who was instrumental in my becoming involved in a voluntary church-based mission that brought care to HIV orphaned children in western Zimbabwe, Mutoko and Harare in Africa. We saw over 1,300 patients. I learned a tremendous amount about HIV during that time.
Why did you choose to join the team at the VNACJ Community Health Center?
It is a natural continuation of many years of clinical work as a community-oriented physician.
As a healthcare provider, how meaningful is it for you to connect with and support the LGBTQIA+ community?
It’s only natural for me as a member of the LGBTQIA community.
You have also served as the Chief Medical Officer to a County Correctional Facility. In what ways can Community Health Centers help prisoners with their Reentry?
One of the greatest problems that we see within the prison system is the number of people who are there because of crimes related to opioid addiction. Many have mental health conditions that go undiagnosed and they are the largest at risk group for HIV. Many of them detox from drugs when they are in custody, but they are very complex cases that require a muti-disciplinary approach upon release – especially if there is going to be any hope of them not going back on drugs or being reincarcerated. Here is a definite segment of the population, that actually can cross over all different social, racial and economic groups. They require a coordinated and individualized plan of healthcare, housing, employment, counseling and other services. MAT programs can make an amazing difference as well in reducing addictive cravings
What would you share with patients about their “vested interest” in their healthcare and where they receive it?
One of the most important aspects of patient care is that the patient follow-up with the provider’s recommendations and referrals. The patients lifestyle choices and following through with testing or medication will have a huge impact on their health. Another thing, that patients may not be aware of, is that Community Health Centers participate with what is called a 340B pharmacy program – that not only helps patients to get prescriptions with ease – it also provides a portion of the prescription funding to support the costs to help the Health Center to operate. In this way, by taking their medications and filling them through the Health Center’s Pharmacy they are actually helping themselves, and others, to continue to get high quality health care.
What’s a fun fact about you that not many people know?
I am an avid music enthusiast. I have been a vocal performer in my youth, I enjoy all genres of music; jazz, classical, folk, R&B, rock.
