A pair of colleagues – a Black chaplain and a white Jewish physician – share the evolution of their relationship and offer a vision of what it means to provide equitable care of mind, body, and soul. Moderated by Reimagine’s beloved Board Chair, Pastor Corey L. Kennard.

Betty Clark, MDiv and her mentee, Jessica Zitter, MD, share notes from the medical field in combating inequities. Chaplain Clark and Dr. Zitter have worked together for over a decade at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. They are united in transforming how healthcare is delivered within their community and across the United States. Pastor Corey L. Kennard, Reimagine Board Chair, pastor, and health care activist, will guide the discussion. The program features a sneak peak of Dr. Zitter’s documentary film-in-progress The Chaplain of Oakland, the story of the once adversarial, now symbiotic relationship between two charismatic and powerful women: a deeply community-rooted Black chaplain and her protege, a fiery Jewish doctor. From within the walls of Oakland California’s Highland Hospital, these committed allies work to transform how Black people die in America.

Chaplain Betty Clark has a Master of Divinity degree from the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley California. She has worked as a Hospice Chaplain for 16 years and a Palliative Care Chaplain at Alameda Health system for 12 years. She has certificates in Palliative Care Chaplaincy, Managing Spiritual Care and Grief Counseling. Chaplain Clark is the founder of the Church Without Walls where she has partnered with Rev. Eugene Williams for 25 years. She is the founder of The East Bay Community End of Life Coalition. Chaplain Clark is the first woman to be the president of The Saint Lukes Society. She is currently the President of the Board of the ARC of the East Bay. She loves her work with the patients and staff at Alameda Health System. She believes that we are all wounded healers traveling this path together that leads to wholeness. That no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care. Chaplain Clark feels that she receives as much as she gives.

Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH is a physician, documentary filmmaker, and writer working to improve how we die in America. Dr. Zitter was part of the team that created the Oscar and Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary, Extremis (2017), which featured her work in the ICU. After founding her own production company, Reel Medicine Media, she went on to create the award-winning documentary, Caregiver: A Love Story (2020), which examines the national crisis of family caregiver burden. Dr. Zitter’s book, Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life (2017), describes her evolution from being a physician focused on medical protocols to one focused on the human being. She was recently named one of Next Avenue’s 2021 “Influencers in Aging.” Dr. Zitter practices both Critical Care and Palliative Care at Highland Hospital, the public hospital in Oakland, California.