What were two top executives from PA’s Department of Human Services doing in Erie on April 9?
To see what collaboration looks like when it actually works.
Sally Kozak, Deputy Secretary of the Office of Medical Assistance Programs, and Andrew Barnes, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Department of Human Services, spent the day getting an inside look at UPMC Hamot, Hamot Health Foundation, BUILD Community Development Corporation, the Erie Center for Arts and Technology (ECAT), and the UPMC Health Plan Neighborhood Center. But the real focus wasn’t any single organization; it was the ecosystem of care we’ve built together.
Throughout the visit, Kozak and Barnes explored how shared values around community well‑being translate into action.
From a tour of UPMC Hamot, the ECAT Wayne building, and the Neighborhood Center to a drive past BUILD CDC properties currently under construction, they saw how healthcare, housing, workforce development, and neighborhood investment are intentionally interconnected. Blighted structures along East Avenue are becoming vibrant residential and commercial spaces and with them, pathways to better health and opportunity.
The takeaway.
When institutions align their strengths around people rather than programs, communities transform. And Erie is showing what’s possible when that vision is more than just talk.