Maternal and Family Health Services welcomed the newly appointed Director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of WIC, Sally Zubairu-Cofield, and members of the state WIC leadership team, for a visit to our agency on Monday, May 2. The visit included a meeting with the WIC administration team to hear about the opportunities and challenges of the various divisions of WIC service delivery, including operations, nutrition education and training, breastfeeding support, retail store coordination, customer service, administrative support and reporting.  Ms. Zubairu-Cofield also had the opportunity to visit the Wilkes-Barre WIC Center and the Hazleton Circle of Care, toured the locations and met with the WIC staff.  She spent time listening to staff to gain a better understanding of the needs of local WIC agencies and gather ideas for strengthening and improving PA WIC.  We sent Ms. Zubairu-Cofield photos from her visit and her response was: “If you can’t tell by the pictures, I was extremely excited and proud of MFHS! Thank you MFHS for all the wonderful work you do on a daily basis! We appreciate you!” 

Thank you to all the MFHS WIC staff whose hard work and dedication are making a difference every day for families, most especially during the ongoing infant formula crisis.  Your commitment to serving those most in need and helping families through this challenging situation is greatly appreciated and valued. 

Photo captions:

Wilkes-Barre WIC (left photo): From left: Shannon Hayward, Vice President of Service Delivery Operations; Aleysia Kroptavich, Nutritionist; Laura Pointek, Office Coordinator; Sally Zubairu-Cofield, Director, PA Bureau of WIC; Erica Bozentka, Director of WIC Operations; Maryann Mehm, Program Assistant.

Hazleton Circle of Care – WIC team (right photo): Back row from left: Joe McLaughlin, PA WIC Director of Finance and Technology; Alison Richter, Office Coordinator; Mike Henderson, PA WIC Public Health Program Manager; James Hornick, Nutritionist; Vivian DiMartini, Program Assistant; Alyson Cara, Nutritionist; Erica Bozentka, Director of WIC Operations. Front row from left: Rocio Lugo-Guevara, Nutritionist; Anne Gober, Practice Administrator/District Manager; Sally Zubairu-Cofield, Director, PA Bureau of WIC; Mark Shirk, PA WIC Director of Regional Territory Coordination; Sheila Suarez, Program Assistant; Jolene Lombardo, Program Assistant.