National Hispanic Medical Association
History
Established in 1994, the NHMA represents 36,000 licensed Hispanic physicians in the U.S. Its office is in Washington, DC and its mission is to improve the health of Hispanics and other underserved. The Association has recently established a Foundation—the National Hispanic Health Foundation to compliment the work of the Association. Based in New York City, its specific role is to develop educational activities and health policy research to improve the health of Hispanics. It is affiliated with The Robert F, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.
The NHMA was developed as a result of a meeting of Presidents of Hispanic medical societies. During the meeting it was decided an organization was needed to fill a void in Washington, DC – the need for a voice for Hispanic/Latino physicians as advocates for Hispanic health with the Federal government. This decision grew from a history of organizing efforts dating back to the 1960s when Hispanic medical students formed regional associations and local societies focused on social and charitable activities. In 1982, Rios established the California Chicano/Latino Medical Student Association and in 1985, the Supernetwork Program to link CMSA with 25 undergraduate Chicano premed clubs. In1987 Rios formed the National Latin American Medical Student Network.
From 1995 to 1996, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration supported 5 regional meetings with Hispanic health leaders around the country. The following year, NHMA convened its First Annual National Conference. In October 1998, Dr. Rios became the Executive Director of NHMA after receiving Federal funding through a Cooperative Agreement with the HHS Office of Minority Health. In 2000, NHMA opened its first office, expanded its staff , and began to receive funding from a number of Foundations , government, and the private sector for a variety of programs, including launching the Hispanic-Serving Health Professional Schools, NHMA Leadership Fellowship, the Resident Leadership Fellowship, the NHMA Public Health Fellowship, the NHMA Research Network, Cultural Competence Curriculum Project, eh National Hispanic Health Leadership Summit, Hispanic Health Professional Student Scholarship, Congressional Hispanic Health Briefing Series, Over the past 9 years, a total of $11.5 million has been raised for project support, although the core staff has remained very lean, averaging an annual budget of $1.5 m.
In 2005, NHMA completed a strategic review and has recently expanded its Board of Directors to include nationally recognized leaders in the health sector and NHHF established its Corporate Advisory Council. A formal affiliation was signed with NYU-Wagner. In 2006, NHMA contracted with a fundraiser to expand corporate sector financial support and an association development company to develop the strategy for infrastructure to support dramatic increases in membership. A first step in this strategy is the establishment of an association of State Medical Societies which NHMA has developed through its Obesity and Diabetes Education Project and new portal (HispanicHealth.info). In 2007-8, NHMA and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health convened regional summits on Hispanics and health policy for the next five years. In 2009, NHMA established the Council of Residents and plans to convene regional meetings to further develop its networks.
