Emergency Physician Dr. John Purakal Receives Prestigious Duke University Presidential Award for Addressing Health Inequalities

To start an initiative targeting health-related social needs out of the waiting room of a busy emergency department (ED) is ambitious. To start one at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic would seem optimistic at best. Yet that is exactly what Dr. John Purakal did in 2021.

Under the leadership of John Purakal, MD, an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, "ParallelED" was created. This initiative, staffed by Duke undergraduate students, operates from the Duke University Hospital ED waiting room and aims to address unmet social needs in parallel with patients’ medical care. Leveraging idle time experienced by patients awaiting their treatment room, the program conducts comprehensive social needs screenings for patients covering topics such as housing, food insecurity, transportation, and financial strain, alongside other health-related social needs.

Since its launch in 2021, despite many pandemic-related hurdles, ParallelED has screened nearly 1000 patients, revealing startling rates of unmet social needs within the ED population. Students provided local resources to a majority of patients, and over 50% of those identified with unmet social needs have been enrolled in NCCARE360. This online state-wide platform - developed by the state’s health department - facilitates referrals to community-based organizations equipped to address these pressing social needs.

For his efforts to advance health equity at Duke, Dr. Purakal was awarded the prestigious 2023 Duke University Presidential Award, the university’s highest individual honor. As one of the Department’s Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Committee Co-chairs, he hopes his work inspires others to create change towards more equitable and inclusive care delivery. The results of the first two years of this pilot initiative have been presented to executive leadership at Duke Health as one of several initiatives addressing social needs across the enterprise, highlighting the need for increased resource allocation towards system-wide screening integration for improved care for Duke’s patients.