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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ronald G. Waters |
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Waters hosts public hearing on increasing Pa.'s minority health-care workforce
HARRISBURG, April 2 – State Rep. Ronald G. Waters, chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee Subcommittee on Health, today held a public hearing in Harrisburg on increasing the state's minority health-care workforce.
Waters said the purpose of the hearing was to start a dialogue that would hopefully shed light on how to correct a disproportionate amount of people of color in medical professions.
"Our state has a growing shortage of nurses, technicians, physician assistants and doctors, and it's a problem that not only plagues Pennsylvania, but the nation as a whole," Waters said. "This is compounded by an underrepresentation of minorities in the medical field, and I'm glad the committee was able to hear testimony and have discussions surrounding this concern."
Joining Waters as part of the hearing panel were Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, D-Phila., Rep. Karen Beyer, R-Northampton/Lehigh, and Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Mifflin/Centre.
Waters opened the hearing with remarks, followed by testimony from Jamal Boyd, director of the Office of Health Equity, who spoke about the growing number of blacks enrolled in studies for health-care careers at colleges and universities throughout the state.
Also testifying were Byron Sogie-Thomas, Director of Health Policy for the National Medical Association; Dr. Daniel Glunk, President, Pennsylvania Medical Society; and the state Department of Health, which stated it and other health-care organizations are actively recruiting African-Americans to join the health profession by offering programs that involve African-American physicians visiting elementary, middle, and high schools across the country, encouraging young people of color to consider medical careers.
"I was glad to hear about the Department of Health's outreach programs that give young people a firsthand perspective of the profession of a doctor," Waters said. "It's so important to introduce health-care career opportunities as early as possible in minority schools, and make them easily accessible in our communities."
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