Michigan Health Policy Forum
A Non-Partisan Venue to Discuss Health Policy
Hosted by Michigan State University
The Michigan Health Policy Forum is Pleased to Present the Fall 2026 Forum
"Advancing Food as Medicine: Frameworks for Supporting Food Interventions in Health Care Delivery"
Monday, October 19, 2026
1:00pm - 3:30pm
LCC West Campus
5708 Cornerstone Drive, Lansing, MI 48917
Speakers:
Dr. Kate Bauer, PhD, MS, Professor of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan's School of Public Health, and Director, Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health Policy, University of Michigan
Dr. Kate Bauer is a Professor of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health and Director of the newly developed Impact Institute – the Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health Policy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Bauer’s research focuses on understanding social influences on children’s eating, with particular attention to supporting effective parenting and healthy food environments for children. Identifying strategies to improve families' food security has been a consistent thread in her work, given the physical, mental, and emotional strain food insecurity places on parents and children. Dr. Bauer received a BA with High Honors in Psychology from Oberlin College, an MS in Health and Social Behavior from the Harvard School of Public Health, and a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Minnesota.
Samantha Cornell, JD, Chief Operating Officer, Access Health
Samantha Cornell, JD, is Chief Operating Officer of Access Health, a community nonprofit with a 27-year history of advancing approaches that connect health care, community support, and the conditions that shape health. A licensed attorney, she works at the intersection of health policy, social care, data, and community infrastructure, contributing to state and national initiatives focused on whole-person care. Her work is grounded in a simple premise: health is a community asset.
Samantha leads the development of Community Information Exchange (CIE) infrastructure and coordinating entity functions that support cross-sector governance, data sharing, implementation, and sustainability. Her work also spans Access Health’s CMS-certified community-based coverage model and Livability Lab, a participatory approach that brings community experience into system design. Across these efforts, she focuses on building durable systems that help clinical and community partners work together more effectively and respond to changing community needs.
Natalie Holland, Director of Client Services, Food Bank Council of Michigan
At the Food Bank Council of Michigan, Natalie leads efforts to mobilize the food security and healthcare system to support Michigan in becoming a food-secure state. Natalie leads a new statewide healthy food pack service offering through Michigan Medicaid’s new In Lieu of Service (ILOS) policy, as well as healthcare partnerships to connect members to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) application assistance and local food assistance. She leads the Food and Other Resources (F.O.R) Helpline that provides SNAP application assistance statewide in over 200 languages.
Previously, Natalie worked at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services supporting statewide strategy for addressing social needs through community information exchanges (CIE) as well as supporting the state’s opioid strategy. Natalie attended Michigan State University.
Shannon Patrick, Strategy Section Manager in the Health Access and Innovation Division, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' Policy and Planning Bureau
Shannon Patrick is the Strategy Section Manager in the Health Access and Innovation Division in MDHHS’ Policy and Planning Bureau. She has a Master of Public Health degree in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan. She has been working to improve the social drivers of health for over 10 years at the local, national and state levels. Shannon joined the MDHHS team in April 2024, and she currently leads the Strategy section, including efforts to improve food security, Community Health Worker workforce initiatives, and Health in All Policies initiatives to improve health outcomes for Michigan’s communities.
Miranda Smith, Systems Alignment Manager, Access Health
Miranda Smith is the Systems Alignment Manager at Access Health, where she works to advance Community Information Exchange (CIE) and strengthen collaboration across health care, statewide stakeholders, human services, and community-based organizations through supportive infrastructure to enable clinical and community linkages and social care delivery for community members.
Her work focuses on developing and implementing grounded, interoperable solutions that improve coordination, support closed-loop referrals, and center community perspective to better connect people to the resources they need. She brings a community-led, co-design approach to conversations about interoperability, catalyzing solutions to address social needs, and cross-sector collaboration.
Megan Thompson, Community-Based Initiatives Specialist, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' Managed Care Plan Division
Megan Thompson is a Community-Based Initiatives Specialist working in the Managed Care Plan Division at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. She monitors and manages implementation of In Lieu of Services (ILOS) which was included in the State’s Comprehensive Health Care Program (CHCP) Contract in 2024 and officially started delivery of ILOS in June 2025. She works with community-based organizations (CBOs), Medicaid Health Plans (MHPs), and other ILOS stakeholders to support and monitor implementation and delivery of ILOS. This includes managing the Capacity Connect Initiative which provides funding and technical assistance to CBOs interested in becoming Medicaid ILOS Providers. She also manages Community Reinvestment, another initiative launched under the current CHCP contract, which requires MHPs that show profit in contract year to reinvest 5% of that profit into the community and address food insecurity and housing instability.
Larrea Young, Human-Centered Designer, Healthy Behavior Optimization for Michigan (HBOM)
Larrea Young is a human-centered designer at Healthy Behavior Optimization for Michigan (HBOM), a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan–funded collaborative quality initiative (CQI) housed at Michigan Medicine. She leads a range of initiatives across the CQI portfolio, including Nutrition Value Pathways, which is helping to expand Food as Medicine benefits by building the referral pathways, infrastructure, and implementation tools that connect health systems, payers and food providers.