City and State officials, AHHE leaders to discuss quality of care for Hispanics

The Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives (AHHE) announced today the City and State elected officials who will meet with the leaders of nine Hispanic health associations to discuss Hispanic Health Care Disparities, Policy and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.  The Roundtable of Hispanic Professional Health Associations, which will formally be established at this meeting, will hold its 2010 State & National Legislative Summit on the heels of the 2010 election, which generated results that may challenge the implementation of the health reform law.  The event will be held Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 6 PM at the national corporate headquarters of TIAA-CREF – 730 Third Avenue, New York City.

Also in attendance will be Frank Munoz, Esq., Deputy Commissioner for the Professions, NYS Department of Education.  Other local, state and federal officials are expected to confirm their attendance in the coming days.

"This is an auspicious moment in terms of planning for the implementation of health reform," stated George Zeppenfeldt-Cestero, Chair and Moderator of the Legislative Summit and president and CEO of AHHE.  "Our organization and the Roundtable of Hispanic Professional Health Associations are poised to help implement two provisions of the new law: expanding the healthcare workforce and increasing the diversity of the workforce.  We know that by doing this we will help improve the delivery and quality of care for Hispanics who are affected by healthcare disparities and we expect to have this opportunity as the law is implemented with the newly elected Congress."

The Roundtable currently consists of the leaders of nine professional associations including:

• George Zeppenfeldt-Cestero, Summit Chair & President, AHHE
• Carmen Collado, LCSW-R, Summit Vice Chair & President, Association of Hispanic Mental Health Professionals
• Mirian Zavala, MS, RN, DNSc, Chair, Policy Committee, AHHE
• Roberto A. Moran, MD, Co-Chair, Board of Directors, Dominican Medical Association
• Yolanda Bonta, DDS, Executive Director, Hispanic Dental Association
• Angie Millan, RN, MSN, NP, President, National Association of Hispanic Nurses
• Luis A. Vasquez, Chairman, Board of Directors, National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on Health
• Elena Rios, MD, MSPH, President, National Hispanic Medical Association
• Samuel Arce, MD, Immediate Past President, Spanish American Medical Dental Society of NY
• Alvaro E. Galvis, National Coordinator, Latino Medical Student Association

The proceedings of the Summit will be streamed live on the Web site of the Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives at www.ahhe.org.  TIAA-CREF, AHHE's newest regional partner, is providing the location for the summit.  Aetna is the organization's national partner.  Other event sponsors include Aflac, American Heart Association, David Lerner & Associates, Greater New York Hospital Association, IPRO, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, Pfizer, and Visiting Nurse Service of NY.

"As a leading retirement plan provider for hospitals and other employers in the medical field, we believe the Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives' work to bring Hispanic health-care issues to the forefront of public discussion is important," said Romano Richetta, senior vice president, Participant Services, TIAA-CREF.  "And to help advance this dialog, TIAA-CREF supports AHHE and the 2010 State and National Legislative Summit on Hispanic Health Care Disparities."

"AHHE's mission is to foster programs and policies to increase the presence of Hispanics in health administration professions.  The organization is working on integrating online mentoring technology via its Web site so that individuals in all parts of the country can join and chat with senior Hispanic healthcare leaders.

"We will also be announcing at this meeting a major collaboration with the Greater New York Hospital Association," said Zeppenfeldt-Cestero.