Latest news with #OfficeofHealthEquity
Axios
16-04-2025
- Health
- Axios
Sen. Blackburn slams VUMC over "concealing" DEI
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is facing mounting federal scrutiny this week after Sen. Marsha Blackburn sent a letter accusing the institution of failing to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Why it matters: President Trump has threatened to withhold mountains of federal funding from medical centers or universities that don't eliminate all DEI programs. Blackburn, a close Trump ally and likely candidate for governor next year, is putting VUMC under a microscope. What she's saying: The senator accused VUMC of "concealing" its DEI efforts on password-protected websites "instead of fully complying with President Trump's executive action to end wasteful DEI programs in educational institutions." Zoom in:"Offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs are seemingly still active," Blackburn said in her letter. "These offices have advocated for 'collectively addressing systemic inequities' and 'confronting structural racism.'" The other side: VUMC spokesperson John Howser said the medical center "is eliminating all DEI programs and is fully complying with executive actions on DEI. "Shortly after the Executive Orders were issued, VUMC began removing related content on internal and external websites to reflect the termination of these programs," he said in a statement. "VUMC will continue to comply with federal mandates and directives." Between the lines: Health research has a problematic history with exclusion: It wasn't until the early 1990s that women were required by law to be included in health studies. VUMC has worked to expand its research. For instance, VUMC researchers have examined higher rates of heart failure for women and black men in rural areas. VUMC's Office of Health Equity works to ensure that disadvantaged groups have access to health care. For instance, the office studies community health needs in six Middle Tennessee counties. The big picture: Trump has taken a hardline stance against diversity initiatives in and outside of government. The battle between Republicans and research institutions over DEI is coming to an apex.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Eliminating DEI at state level draws plenty of pushback
Feb. 7—President Donald Trump needed just his pen on a sweeping executive order to end federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, but a conservative Republican ran into a storm of opposition last week with his attempt to achieve the same result in state government. On Capitol Hill, U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, picked up on Trump's unsubstantiated claim that DEI may have factored in the midair collision that killed 67 people near Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 30. "What I think you're going to find is there were a lot of qualified White men that they were not hiring because they were holding spots for DEI hires," Marshall said. Local officials in Concord and Manchester have had to defend their own DEI initiatives against critics who charge they are a waste of money and seek to solve a problem that doesn't exist. At the State House, the legislation (HB 392) from Rep. Mike Belcher, R-Wakefield, would dismantle the Office of Health Equity in the state Department of Health and Human Services, the civil rights and environmental justice functions in the Department of Environmental Services and the Governor's Council on Diversity and Inclusion. Belcher charged that when vaccines and antibodies were in short supply at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials set aside supplies for minority groups in the state based on "skin color." "These programs ought to be looked at as both unlawful and unconstitutional," Belcher told the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee. "These concepts have been roundly rejected by the American people and the voters of New Hampshire. They are punitive, discriminatory and divisive." Yet over a 2 1/2 -hour public hearing, every speaker following Belcher warned that getting rid of these programs would cost the state nearly $100 million in federal support while cutting off a lifeline of services that legal refugees, the disabled and low-income residents depend upon for survival. Health impact Belcher was surely not going to sway one member of this key House committee, two-term Rep. Trinidad Telez, D-Manchester. For a decade including the onset of COVID, Telez was the director of the Office of Health Equity. Telez told Belcher the office's work was upheld twice in court against lawsuits that charged it had practiced bias in its delivery of care. "Do you have any evidence that discrimination exists here in New Hampshire?" Telez asked Belcher. "There can be no quality of care if we fail to address equity." There were 30 who endorsed Belcher's bill online while 2,820 opposed it. Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre is executive director of the New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities. "We don't want to blanketly eliminate anything just because it has the word equity and justice in it," Rodriguez-Legendre said. "People with disabilities have a significant need for coordination of care and those needs can only be met by equitable access to services and information." During the pandemic, the Office of Health Equity deployed mobile vans that brought vaccines and other health services to rural parts of the state and urban neighborhoods where low-income residents lacked transportation to make a doctor or hospital visit. "For example: Are patients able to access appointments? Do they have transportation? Do they need hearing or vision accommodation? Can they follow up with medications, physical and behavioral health therapy, and prescriptions?" asked Cathy Stratton, CEO of the New Hampshire Medical Society. Andrew Loehrer, a surgical oncologist at Dartmouth Health, said the office's leadership led to the elimination of disparities in access to care for advance-stage cancer, research that will soon be published nationally. "Health equity is not some straw man that affects everybody else; it impacts all by ensuring that every single individual in our state has access to high-quality care," Loehrer said. Adam Crepeau, assistant commissioner with the Department of Environmental Services, said with all its federal grants, the department must prove it complies with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "This would put significant federal funds in jeopardy," Crepeau said, identifying up to $90 million in federal aid at risk. Heidi Trimarco, a lawyer with the Conservation Law Foundation, was more blunt. "This will take a wrecking ball to DES," Trimarco said, pointing out the impact is 25% of its entire budget. Office will stay in budget Gov. Kelly Ayotte said she hasn't read Belcher's bill and "has not thought about re-creating" the diversity council former Gov. Chris Sununu formed by executive order in 2017. Sununu eliminated the council in December before leaving office. She told reporters that the two-year state budget proposal she will present on Thursday will include continuing the Office of Health Equity. "When it comes to diversity, equity, we want everyone to feel they can be engaged; that's a basic premise of who we are," Ayotte said. The Office of Health Equity was established in 1999 as the Office of Minority Health; its name was changed in 2016. Eliminating it would save $100,000 in state taxpayer funds and forfeit $69,000 in federal grants. The office runs the Refugee Resettlement Program, which coordinates employment, language skills and cultural assimilation to help those from other countries legally coming here, often to escape oppression. Health and Human Services Associate Commissioner Ann Landry said Belcher's bill would cause the program to lose state coordination, which ensures refugees get access to all services from food stamp and welfare assistance to job training and English as a second language classes. Richard Minard of Bow runs Building Community in New Hampshire and his seven-person staff includes former residents of Afghanistan, Ukraine, Haiti and Republic of Congo. "Together they speak 17 languages," Minard testified. "I don't know when or how 'equity' became a dirty word. To me, the promise of liberty and justice for all Americans is synonymous with the promise of equity and inclusion." State Rep. Jess Edwards, R-Auburn, chairs the House Finance Committee working group with oversight of the entire Health and Human Services budget. Over six years, Edwards, a fiscal conservative, said he eyed these programs "cynically" and spent more time than any other legislator scrutinizing their work. "I would say that this is a program that, by and large, most of us can agree to," Edwards said. "We aren't trying to put the thumb on the scale to provide superior access to a select group; it's to provide everyone the same access and to me, that's a goal the state of New Hampshire should strive to meet." klandrigan@
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Hampshire GOP lawmakers join attacks on DEI, target state departments, governor's office
The bill targets the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Equity and the Department of Environmental Services' civil rights and environmental justice programs. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin) As President Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington, D.C., seek to eradicate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts throughout the federal government, their state-level allies in New Hampshire are working to do the same in the Granite State. House Bill 392, sponsored by Wakefield Republican Rep. Mike Belcher, seeks to eliminate, and forbid New Hampshire from ever recreating, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Equity, the Department of Environmental Services' civil rights and environmental justice programs, and the Governor's Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion. Belcher, in introducing the bill to fellow lawmakers during a hearing Thursday in Concord, said DEI programs 'ought to be considered unlawful and unconstitutional.' He said they were created by 'Marxists' and are 'evil' because they discriminated against people based on 'immutable characteristics.' Belcher argued they were used to unfairly deny scarce medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and have endangered the stability of electrical grids by shuttering energy facilities that might have a disproportionate environmental impact on lower-income people. While department officials don't take an official position on bills, Ann Landry, associate commissioner of DHHS who oversees the Office of Health Equity, said Wednesday the department has 'very serious concerns' about the bill. She spoke about the department's ability to assist people who do not, or struggle to, speak English; the services it provides to people with disabilities to help them access health care; and programs to help recently resettled refugees – who have legal status – integrate into the U.S. health care system. Landry explained that the office is responsible for ensuring people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or unable to speak English have access to the department's services. 'These are services they are legally eligible for and deserve,' she said. Landry said the office is also responsible for ensuring DHHS is compliant with the 1965 Civil Rights Act, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, and state law. She said not having personnel to ensure compliance with these laws 'would put the state at risk for countless lawsuits and financial penalties.' The office also oversees the federally funded and federally mandated refugee resettlement program, which helps newly arrived refugees, who have legal status, integrate into their new homes, she said. 'The leadership and staff at OHE receive outreach daily from constituents with complex health needs, both clients and their providers, from across the state who are struggling to navigate our health care system,' she said. 'The team helps with the immediate need of that individual, or the provider advocating on behalf of the individual, but then also addresses the larger barrier to care.' Rep. Jessica LaMontagne, a Dover Democrat, asked if she knew of any instances where people were denied services based on their skin color. Landry said she did not. Rep. Jess Edwards, an Auburn Republican, echoed Belcher's assessment on equity efforts, but said his interactions with the office alleviate his concerns. 'The word 'health equity' has jumped out at me as well,' Edwards said. 'I think we've got a situation where whoever came up with the name of that department really regrets it, because they couldn't forecast how the name would basically become synonymous with actual discrimination.' He said he's repeatedly questioned the department about this office, and has concluded 'they are not trying to have any individual demographic get superior care; it's just a search to remove barriers to make sure we all have an equal access to care.' 'Unless they've been lying to me in testimony for the last five years, I would say this is a program that, by and large, most of us can agree to,' he said. 'Each time I've gone into it with my cynicism fully activated, I've been comfortable that the DHHS Office of Health Equity is probably doing good work.' Adam Crepeau, assistant commissioner of DES, also spoke about his department's concerns. He said the bill would put 'some significant federal funds in jeopardy' and potentially lead to the department being referred to the national Department of Justice by shuttering projects that work to ensure it is in compliance with the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Those federal funds could total up to $80 million to $90 million, though he acknowledged losing the entirety is unlikely. While the Governor's Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion has already been disbanded, the bill seeks to forbid the governor from ever recreating it. Gov. Kelly Ayotte told the Bulletin she hasn't considered doing so. On the bill more broadly, she said she hasn't looked at it yet. At the hearing Wednesday Rep. Trinidad Tellez, a Hooksett Democrat, asked Belcher for evidence of DEI-driven discrimination in New Hampshire. Belcher said that during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the middle of the pandemic, 10% of vaccine doses were withheld to be distributed 'specifically on the basis of skin color.' (The Bulletin reported in 2021 that New Hampshire did indeed set aside 10% of vaccines to be allocated to regions where large minority populations live.) Tellez countered by pointing out that courts threw out two lawsuits that alleged this was discriminatory, finding they were without merit. 'I would not look to judicial precedent to determine whether something is discriminatory or not,' Belcher responded. 'I would look to common sense.' He added that he believes the Legislature can 'adjust judicial precedent' by passing this bill. Regarding New Hampshire potentially losing federal funding by not abiding by federal DEI rules, Belcher argued Trump's recent executive orders and policies suggest the state would not lose funds. 'On the contrary, we are far more likely to lose funding if we do not,' he said. Rep. Jay Markell, an Atkinson Republican, contested Belcher's claim that these DEI programs are unconstitutional. He asked if his previous statements were based on a legal strict scrutiny analysis – to which Belcher said no – and argued that because it's a health care regulation, legally, it simply needs to be related to a legitimate government objective to be constitutional. 'I'm arguing it probably is constitutional,' Markell said. 'You may have different arguments.' The bill was opposed by Building Community in New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Council of Churches, New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, and other community organizations Wednesday.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New Hampshire GOP lawmakers join attacks on DEI, target state departments, governor's office
The bill targets the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Equity and the Department of Environmental Services' civil rights and environmental justice programs. (Photo by Dana Wormald/New Hampshire Bulletin) As President Donald Trump and Republicans in Washington, D.C., seek to eradicate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts throughout the federal government, their state-level allies in New Hampshire are working to do the same in the Granite State. House Bill 392, sponsored by Wakefield Republican Rep. Mike Belcher, seeks to eliminate, and forbid New Hampshire from ever recreating, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Equity, the Department of Environmental Services' civil rights and environmental justice programs, and the Governor's Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion. Belcher, in introducing the bill to fellow lawmakers during a hearing Thursday in Concord, said DEI programs 'ought to be considered unlawful and unconstitutional.' He said they were created by 'Marxists' and are 'evil' because they discriminated against people based on 'immutable characteristics.' Belcher argued they were used to unfairly deny scarce medical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and have endangered the stability of electrical grids by shuttering energy facilities that might have a disproportionate environmental impact on lower-income people. While department officials don't take an official position on bills, Ann Landry, associate commissioner of DHHS who oversees the Office of Health Equity, said Wednesday the department has 'very serious concerns' about the bill. She spoke about the department's ability to assist people who do not, or struggle to, speak English; the services it provides to people with disabilities to help them access health care; and programs to help recently resettled refugees – who have legal status – integrate into the U.S. health care system. Landry explained that the office is responsible for ensuring people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or unable to speak English have access to the department's services. 'These are services they are legally eligible for and deserve,' she said. Landry said the office is also responsible for ensuring DHHS is compliant with the 1965 Civil Rights Act, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, and state law. She said not having personnel to ensure compliance with these laws 'would put the state at risk for countless lawsuits and financial penalties.' The office also oversees the federally funded and federally mandated refugee resettlement program, which helps newly arrived refugees, who have legal status, integrate into their new homes, she said. 'The leadership and staff at OHE receive outreach daily from constituents with complex health needs, both clients and their providers, from across the state who are struggling to navigate our health care system,' she said. 'The team helps with the immediate need of that individual, or the provider advocating on behalf of the individual, but then also addresses the larger barrier to care.' Rep. Jessica LaMontagne, a Dover Democrat, asked if she knew of any instances where people were denied services based on their skin color. Landry said she did not. Rep. Jess Edwards, an Auburn Republican, echoed Belcher's assessment on equity efforts, but said his interactions with the office alleviate his concerns. 'The word 'health equity' has jumped out at me as well,' Edwards said. 'I think we've got a situation where whoever came up with the name of that department really regrets it, because they couldn't forecast how the name would basically become synonymous with actual discrimination.' He said he's repeatedly questioned the department about this office, and has concluded 'they are not trying to have any individual demographic get superior care; it's just a search to remove barriers to make sure we all have an equal access to care.' 'Unless they've been lying to me in testimony for the last five years, I would say this is a program that, by and large, most of us can agree to,' he said. 'Each time I've gone into it with my cynicism fully activated, I've been comfortable that the DHHS Office of Health Equity is probably doing good work.' Adam Crepeau, assistant commissioner of DES, also spoke about his department's concerns. He said the bill would put 'some significant federal funds in jeopardy' and potentially lead to the department being referred to the national Department of Justice by shuttering projects that work to ensure it is in compliance with the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Those federal funds could total up to $80 million to $90 million, though he acknowledged losing the entirety is unlikely. While the Governor's Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion has already been disbanded, the bill seeks to forbid the governor from ever recreating it. Gov. Kelly Ayotte told the Bulletin she hasn't considered doing so. On the bill more broadly, she said she hasn't looked at it yet. At the hearing Wednesday Rep. Trinidad Tellez, a Hooksett Democrat, asked Belcher for evidence of DEI-driven discrimination in New Hampshire. Belcher said that during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the middle of the pandemic, 10% of vaccine doses were withheld to be distributed 'specifically on the basis of skin color.' (The Bulletin reported in 2021 that New Hampshire did indeed set aside 10% of vaccines to be allocated to regions where large minority populations live.) Tellez countered by pointing out that courts threw out two lawsuits that alleged this was discriminatory, finding they were without merit. 'I would not look to judicial precedent to determine whether something is discriminatory or not,' Belcher responded. 'I would look to common sense.' He added that he believes the Legislature can 'adjust judicial precedent' by passing this bill. Regarding New Hampshire potentially losing federal funding by not abiding by federal DEI rules, Belcher argued Trump's recent executive orders and policies suggest the state would not lose funds. 'On the contrary, we are far more likely to lose funding if we do not,' he said. Rep. Jay Markell, an Atkinson Republican, contested Belcher's claim that these DEI programs are unconstitutional. He asked if his previous statements were based on a legal strict scrutiny analysis – to which Belcher said no – and argued that because it's a health care regulation, legally, it simply needs to be related to a legitimate government objective to be constitutional. 'I'm arguing it probably is constitutional,' Markell said. 'You may have different arguments.' The bill was opposed by Building Community in New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Council of Churches, New Hampshire Council on Developmental Disabilities, and other community organizations Wednesday.
