2015 -- H 5993

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LC002244

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CELEBRATING THE MONTH OF APRIL, 2015, AS "COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS

MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

     Introduced By: Representatives Diaz, Slater, Hull, Messier, and Casey

     Date Introduced: March 26, 2015

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, Community Health Workers (CHWs) are professional non-clinicians who

check the pulse of the community and are an integral link that connects disenfranchised and

medically underserved populations to the health and social service systems, while making health

services more culturally and linguistically appropriate; and

     WHEREAS, By serving in a unique role, Community Health Workers work to improve

access to health care, advance health equity, and help to eliminate health care disparities based on

race, ethnicity, gender, and class in underserved communities; and

     WHEREAS, Community Health Workers provide direct services, including informal

counseling and social support, and advocate for individual and community needs; and

     WHEREAS, Increasing workforce diversity is a critical step in achieving health equity.

Given that communities with high minority populations experience a disproportionate burden of

their health, increasing the workforce diversity is vital to eliminating health disparities; now,

therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby joins the Department of Labor and Training in recognizing the

Community Health Worker workforce as an Apprenticeable Profession; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That this House hereby declares that it is fitting for the month of April,

which is Minority Health Month, to note the role that Community Health Workers have had in

improving the diversity of the health workforce in order to provide better access to underserved

communities in Rhode Island, and to celebrate April of 2015, as "Community Health Workers

Month" in the state of Rhode Island. We moreover thank Rhode Island’s Community Health

Workers (CHWs) for the important contributions they make towards improving the quality of life

for the citizens of Rhode Island; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Community Health Worker Association of

Rhode Island.

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