Take Action

NHMA submitted letters in April and May 2020 focused on Hispanic-specific health issues. Contact your member of Congress to ask them to support Hispanic health in the next COVID-19 relief bill.

Contact your representative today (by phone or email).  
Find your representative by going here. 
Find your senators by going here.

TELL YOUR SENATOR: SUPPORT NHMA’S FY21 APPROPRIATIONS REQUEST for FY22
UPDATE: The House Appropriations Committee passed their FY2021 Labor-HHS-Education Funding Bill, which included both NHMA requests. On July 31, the House passed H.R. 7617, a six-bill appropriations minibus, which included funding for the Health and Human Services.

NHMA submitted a request to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committees to include a report language for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Labor-Health Human Services-Education Appropriations bill for the following priorities:

  1. Establish a Hispanic Leadership Fellowship Program that will increase the participation of Hispanic health and medical professionals in areas of national need.
  2. Establish a Hispanic Junior Faculty Research Accelerator Program to increase the participation of mid-level career physicians to be trained for posts at the federal, state, and local public health levels.

NHMA members know firsthand the importance of increasing the diversity of medical professionals as the Hispanic population continues to increase. 

NHMA’s requests are modest and funding the initiatives and programs will (1) allow the United States to produce an increased number of qualified health professionals from underrepresented communities; (2) increase the sustainable engagement of Hispanic health professionals in federally-funded research programs; and (3) provide greater access to health care and improve health outcomes for members of the Hispanic community.

Contact your Senator today (by phone or email) and ask them to support NHMA’s requests.  
Find your senators by going here.

To send an email to your representative or senator, go to their website, click contact, and email. Copy and paste the message below. If you participated in previous fellow and leadership training through NHMA, include that in your message.

As a member physician of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), I write to ask you to support  NHMA’s requests for the Fiscal Year 2021 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations bill to include report language and funding for the following priorities: (1) $1 million in support of the establishment of a Hispanic Leadership Fellowship Program that will increase the participation of Hispanic health and medical professionals in areas of national need and (2) $1.5 million to increase the participation of Hispanic junior faculty in research programs sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities.

Funding these initiatives will (1) allow the United States to produce an increased number of qualified health professionals from underrepresented communities; (2) increase the sustainable engagement of Hispanic health professionals in federally-funded research programs; and (3) provide greater access to health care and improve health outcomes for members of the Hispanic community. 

I believe that strong federal investments in a Hispanic Leadership Fellowship Program and a Hispanic Junior Faculty Research Accelerator Program are crucial to increase the representation of Hispanic patients, caregivers, clinicians, and researchers in health services research.  These programs will provide to our nation’s health care workforce the foundation necessary to tackle the challenges we are currently facing, and which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Elena Rios