National Hispanic Health Symposium 

and Regional Meetings 

By Jean Oxendine


Closing the Gap, Hispanic Agenda for Action • October 1998


To ensure that the Hispanic Agenda for Action (HAA) receives 

community review, and to ensure that all Department of 

Health and Human Services (HHS) regions conduct activities that support the HAA, Secretary Shalala called for a National 

Hispanic Health Symposium to precede the Hispanic Heritage Month 

celebration in 1997. 

The symposium, “Building a Healthy Nation,” was convened 

by HHS from September 11-13, 1997, in Los Angeles, CA. The 

National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Services Organizations (COSSMHO), under a cooperative agreement with HHS, 

organized the logistics for the symposium. 

The meeting brought together more than 500 HHS officials and 

Hispanic community-based leaders. This group jointly reviewed existing HHS plans for addressing the needs of Hispanic customers, 

discussed program models, and developed regional action plans. The 

level of community and federal participation in the Symposium represented a landmark in HHS’ history of Hispanic initiatives. 

The National Hispanic Health Symposium was a working meeting, with the first day consisting of senior HHS officials and community leaders participating in executive discussions that explored current issues and HHS plans for meeting the needs of Hispanic customers. 

The second day was devoted to regional meetings in which participants decided how to examine the nine areas of the HHS Hispanic 

Agenda for Action (see article on front page). Some regions made 

recommendations under all nine areas, some chose to prioritize areas 

for immediate action, while other regions chose to identify priority 

issues and make recommendations that cut across the nine HAA areas. 

The report that resulted lists broad regional recommendations. 

Regions are currently developing a process for updating the recommendations and setting priorities and time frames for implementation. A series of more detailed region-specific recommendations to 

guide the implementation of the HHS Hispanic Agenda for Action is 

currently being developed as well. 

To date, eight of the ten regions have held official meetings with 

community-based organizations, while the other two regions are in 

the process of planning their meetings. 

The following are descriptions of two of the regions that reported these recommendations as this issue of Closing the Gap went to 

press. 

Region III Meeting 

On July 22, 1998, a regional meeting was held in Philadelphia. 

Region III representatives (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia) reviewed recommendations and discussed community needs and ways in which these 

needs can be addressed regionally. The meeting was organized by the 

Consortium for Latino Health. 

This meeting was the first step at building a strong network 

within Region III between Latino and community-based groups and 

HHS. 

Each agency within HHS presented information and a review of 

its mission. In the afternoon, community leaders described the major 

health issues affecting Latinos in their communities. 

The group touched on many of the suggestions from the symposium and offered a few new suggestions including: 

•	 using money from HMO’s for reimbursement of health education 

for chronic diseases in Latino populations; 

•	 using Hispanic media as a tool to educate the community about 

alternative medicine; 

•	 inviting and including State representatives and other local government representatives to future meetings. 

They also listed a series of “next steps”, such as encouraging community based organizations to work with HHS to implement recommendations, and planning follow-up meetings between local Latino 

community-based organizations and Region III representatives. 

Region VI Meeting 

On August 20 and 21, 1998, Region VI conducted a two day 

meeting as a follow-up to the National Hispanic Health Symposium. 

All operating divisions in Region VI participated, with presentations 

outlining the agencies’ missions and goals and their relationships to 

the Hispanic community. Additionally, staff was available to talk oneon-one with community representatives from New Mexico, Arkansas, 

Oklahoma, and Texas. A total of 81 community members attended 

the conference. 

During day two of the meeting, the group identified key issues 

and areas in which to review and prepare goals. Additionally, to assist 

the group in covering the entire region, they divided the Region into 

five districts to review, plan, and implement short- and long-term 

goals. 

Other regions are planning meetings to follow up recommendations 

from the September 1997 Symposium. Updates on regional activities 

and progress toward symposium goals are available on the COSSMHO 

Web site at: www.cossmho.org.

Office of Minority Health Resource Center	 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services