Nutrition and proper dieting plays a huge role in our lives on a daily basis whether we consciously think about it or we don’t. It can help with a slew of different medical issues in today’s society. Proper nutrition can help a large amount of health issues ranging from medical conditions pertaining to heart disease, obesity, cancers, and other issues that plague us today. Most people don’t realize the magnitude of how a healthy diet can affect even something as simple as your sleep patterns.

People in our healthcare forum every day like Kara Ellis who’s our Lead Dietician in New Britain understands. She’s been with our Community Health Center for almost four years, but she has done an array of things in her career so far. She received a Master’s in Clinical Nutrition at New York University and before taking her job at CHC she worked on a hit show for the Food Network with a Dietician named Ellie Krieger. Even though she enjoyed her experiences before CHC, her love is working with underserved populations. She believes that, “nutrition education and preventative care are necessities to building healthy communities and I love being a part of that.”

When Kara heard the news of the Department of Social Services discussing regulations that might eliminate nutrition and dietician services for reimbursement purposes to the Federally Qualified Health Centers she was unhappy. She wanted to show the importance of what a healthy nutrition does for the human body and the overall quality of life. She put her love and knowledge for what she loves to do every day and worked with the DSS attorneys and policy staff to examine the literature and issues.

As the efforts started brewing together for the DSS to make a decision after their efforts to convince they were met with success. The Department issued a revised regulation that included certified dietitians and nutritionists who can be reimbursed for their services as covered service. Kara was happy to hear the news and was grateful that the Department took the time to listen to her, “which is the most important thing when trying to change people’s decisions. If you can get them to hear you out- to have the opportunity to make a case without preconceived notions or biases- you are half the way there.”