Month: September 2023

Rutgers University and Quest Diagnostics are expanding their collaboration to further improve access to critical primary care services for uninsured and underinsured patients of the university’s Health Outreach Practice Experience (H.O.P.E.) Clinic in Plainfield, NJ.

Resources from the Quest Diagnostics Foundation will enable the clinic to double its capacity by providing primary care services for a second day of the week.

The clinic previously operated one day each week, with Rutgers faculty and physician assistant students seeing patients who are trying to manage acute and chronic diseases and providing them with referrals to specialists as well as critical education on managing their health conditions. Despite the progress in improving access to primary healthcare services, the students and faculty at H.O.P.E. found themselves regularly turning patients away due to high demand and a limited number of appointments available in a single day.

“Quest Diagnostics and the Quest Diagnostics Foundation have shown, yet again, the power of this private-public collaboration in reducing healthcare disparities in the greater Plainfield community, both through the provision of additional no cost lab tests to our patients and the financial support needed to expand our clinical services,” said Frank Giannelli, director of the H.O.P.E. Clinic and an assistant professor in the physician assistant program at Rutgers School of Health Professions.

Rutgers and Quest initially teamed up last year to provide no-cost laboratory tests to help diagnose and manage acute and chronic diseases. Under the program, clinicians send laboratory orders directly to a nearby Quest Patient Service Center, which allows patients to visit immediately after their appointment. The results are transmitted directly back to the clinic for follow-up with the patient, streamlining the process to make it easier for patients to receive the treatment they need. Quest will continue to offer no-cost lab testing as part of the program expansion, including lab tests for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, sexually transmitted infections, and Lyme disease.

The grant from the Quest Foundation is part of the Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative, which provides resources, funding, testing services, and education to address health disparities in underserved communities across the U.S.

“At Quest, we are rooted in our purpose of working together to create a healthier world, one life at a time, and the joint effort with Rutgers is an example of our purpose in practice. Together we are expanding our efforts to reduce barriers to care in an underserved community,” said Michael Floyd, Senior Director and Leader, Q4HE, Quest Diagnostics. “We recognized an opportunity to build on our efforts with the H.O.P.E Clinic to reach more members of the community and hope that this renewed commitment will help provide better access and, ultimately, better health outcomes.”

The H.O.P.E. Clinic, opened in 2021, provides an essential service to a city where about 30 percent of residents are uninsured and 39 percent report not having a primary care provider. It is one of an estimated 1,400 free and charitable clinics in the US that serve about 7 million people annually.

Jose Gutierrez is a staff member from the Rutgers School of Health Professions who works at the clinic two days a week thanks to the expanded relationship between Rutgers and Quest. In his role of program assistant at the H.O.P.E. Clinic, Jose helps people in the community make appointments and get access to healthcare services. Thanks to Jose’s work, community members are seen by students like Alexis Espinoza (pictured above), a third year PA student from San Diego, CA.

“It’s not like a job here,” Jose said recently at the clinic. “It’s more like a family.”

HAMILTON, Bermuda, September 6, 2023 /3BL/ – In response to the growing demand for trained bartenders, family-owned Bacardi today announced that it is launching Shake Your Future in Germany. Shake Your Future is a special initiative giving young adults the life-changing opportunity to train as a professional mixologist.

With an industry-wide shortage of skilled bartenders, Bacardi is launching the program in Germany for the first time. The initial group of 10 will take part in the four-week diploma course at a bartender training school in Berlin where they will gain the skills and experience they need to start a new career as a mixologist.

The Shake Your Future students will be trained in the art of bartending and mixology before facing the ultimate test of their new-found skills when, for one night only, the entire group takes over the running of a top Berlin bar for a whole evening’s cocktail service. From the moment someone walks through the door of the bar, the students will be responsible for delivering the ultimate cocktail experience – from the way they are welcomed, to the taking of the order, to the theater of mixing the drink, to the perfect serve of a cocktail that tastes as good as it looks – whether it’s a classic recipe or a creation of their own.

If at the end of the evening they are judged by a jury of bar professionals (and, of course, consumers) to have passed the test, the new Shake Your Future graduates will receive an internationally recognized diploma and be able to access permanent employment opportunities within the sector, empowering them to transform their lives and build a brighter future.

Bacardi launched Shake Your Future as a pilot in 2018 to help address the youth unemployment crisis on the doorstep of its French office, which at the time was in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Ouen. Since then it has expanded to Spain, Italy and many other countries outside of Europe as part of a plan to bring the same opportunity to 10,000 people around the world by 2030.

Nicolas Rampf, Managing Director, Bacardi Germany, said: “Shake Your Future is a win-win. We are giving these students the start they need to make it as a professional mixologist and at the same time we are answering the need of our partners in the hospitality industry who are experiencing an unprecedented shortage of trained bartenders. And this is only the beginning. Shake Your Future changes lives and I’m excited to see the difference it will make to the participants and many more as we roll out the program across Germany over the months and years ahead.”

Bacardi is running Shake Your Future in Berlin in collaboration with Dominik Galander, bar entrepreneur and owner of a bartender training school.

Dominik added: “Now, more than ever before, we need trained bartenders to help us deliver on the growing demand for the very best cocktails. It’s true for me and it’s true for the entire hospitality industry across Germany. Shake Your Future is a fantastic initiative from Bacardi. It’s a proactive step towards making a difference to our industry and I am proud to be collaborating with them on the launch here in Berlin.”

Shake Your Future runs annually in each of the cities where it is launched, with an ever-growing number of bar and restaurant partners pledging their support and giving the trainees the all-important experience they need to change their lives.

To find out more about Bacardi and its ESG – Environmental, Social & Governance – commitments, including its alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, visit www.bacardilimited.com/esg.

ENDS

Always drinks responsibly.

Media contact 
Andrew Carney, Communications Director Europe, Bacardi 
acarney@bacardi.com

About Bacardi 
Bacardi Limited, the largest privately held international spirits company in the world, produces, markets, and distributes internationally recognized spirits and wines. The Bacardi Limited portfolio comprises more than 200 brands and labels, including BACARDÍ® rum, PATRÓN® tequila, GREY GOOSE® vodka, DEWAR’S® Blended Scotch whisky, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® gin, MARTINI® vermouth and sparkling wines, and other leading and emerging brands including WILLIAM LAWSON’S® Scotch whisky, ST-GERMAIN® elderflower liqueur, and ERISTOFF® vodka. Founded more than 161 years ago in Santiago de Cuba, family-owned Bacardi Limited currently employs approximately 9,000, operates production facilities in 11 countries and territories, and sells its brands in more than 160 markets. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. Visit www.bacardilimited.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.