R 211

2019 -- H 5979 Enacted 04/10/2019

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

PROCLAIMING THE MONTH OF APRIL, 2019, TO BE "COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

Introduced By: Representatives Diaz, Slater, Tobon, Maldonado, and Vella-Wilkinson

Date Introduced: April 10, 2019

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

seek to promote the community's voice within the health care system. They provide a forum to

share resources and strategies and advocate for underserved populations while making health

services more culturally and linguistically appropriate; and

WHEREAS, Community Health Worker professionals work to improve access to health

care and advance health equity and self-sufficiency through a range of activities including

outreach, community education, counseling, and social support with an overall goal of

eliminating health disparities based on race, ethnicity, gender, and class; and

WHEREAS, Community Health Worker professionals improve workforce diversity, a

critical step in achieving health equity; and

WHEREAS, The Community Health Worker workforce is an apprenticeable profession

according to the Rhode Island State Department of Labor and Training and the Rhode Island

Department of Health; now, therefore be it

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

Providence Plantations hereby proclaims April, 2019, to be "Community Health Workers Month"

in the State of Rhode Island. We furthermore thank them for the significant and important

contributions they make towards improving the quality of life for the citizens of our state; 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 Dianne (Dannie) Catherine Ritchie, MD, MPH,

Brown University Center for Primary Care and Prevention.

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LC000221

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