The New England Regional Minority Health Committee (NERMHC) is pleased to be hosting it's 6th Biannual Conference entitled Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities by 2010: From Disparities to Equity - The Power to Make Change, which is scheduled to be held on March 30th, 31st and April 1st, 2009 at the Westin Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. The NERMHC is an ever-evolving group of dedicated individuals, organizations, and agencies that have made a significant impact on minority health throughout New England and have set an example for the rest of the country. The Committee is best known for its biannual three-day New England Regional Minority Health Conference. Since 1999, the NERMHC plans and implements this event every two years targeting a very diverse audience, including staff from state and federal agencies, community-based organizations, non-profit and for-profit organizations, health insurers, academia, faith-based organizations, health care organizations, hospitals, community health centers, consumers and tribal nation partners. The conference is unique in two aspects. At each conference, each of the six New England states meet separately and report on its activities since the past conference and discuss planned activities for the following two years. State representatives hold each other accountable to their communities in this regional setting. The conference is about action and accountability as much as about education and celebration. Every attendee from a given state is an equal participant in this planning and accountability process. The other unique aspect of the conference is that the goals and activities of the conference are on-going through the work of the NERMHC. The conferences are the most visible outcome, but the year-round work between the conferences is what helps the actual event become a growing and powerful force for eliminating health disparities. As the biennial conference has grown in participation, (from 125 attendees in 1999 to 625 attendees in 2007), so has the need for financial support to sustain this effort. The NERMHC is a network of volunteers, professionals and consumers with a paid staff person (the Project Manager) and contract agency (the Fiscal Agent). ? ? ?
The mission of the New England Regional Minority Health Committee is to create a dynamic forum to develop strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. The project's overall goals and specific objectives are to establish an on-going exchange of information, strengthen networks and partnerships, build capacity, provide mutual support to professionals, and improve access and quality of care to racial and ethnic community members throughout New England in an effort to reduce health disparities. Health disparities are the persistent gaps between the health status of minorities and non- minorities in the United States. 1
