DHMH Announces Membership of Workgroup for Workforce Development for Community Health Workers
Baltimore, Maryland (September 19, 2014) -- Today the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) and the Maryland Insurance Administration announced members of the newly formed Workgroup for Workforce Development for Community Health Workers (Workgroup). The Workgroup is in response to legislation requiring the State to study and make recommendations regarding workforce development for community health workers in Maryland.
Community health workers—also known as community health advocates, lay health educators, community health representatives, peer health promoters, community health outreach workers, and in Spanish, promotores de salud—are community members who work in the community settings as connectors between health care consumers and providers to promote health among groups that have traditionally lacked access to adequate health care.
The purpose of the Workgroup is to make recommendations regarding:
1) Training and credentialing required for community health workers (CHWs) to be certified as nonclinical health care providers.
2) Reimbursement and payment policies for community health workers through the Maryland Medicaid Assistance Program and private insurers.
The Workgroup will report its findings and recommendations to the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the House Health and Government Operations Committee by June of 2015.
Following an open call for membership in July, the following representatives have been selected to serve on the workgroup:
Deborah Agus Mar-Lynn Mickens
Pamela Bohrer Brown Dwyan Y. Monroe
Kim Burton Sonia Mora
Perry Chan Bettye Muwwakkil
Elizabeth Chung Ruth Ann Norton
Dr. Kimberly M. Coleman Rosalie Pack
Jennifer Dahl Marcos Pesquera
Ashyrra C. Dotson Maxine Reed-Vance
Wendy Friar Kate Scott
Dr. Chris Gibbons Michael Rogers
Rev. Debra Hickman Dr. Maura Rossman
Dr. Cheryl L. Holt Laura Spada
Beth Little-Terry Dr. Yvette Snowden
Dr. Michelle LaRue Novella Tascoe
Ann Horton Richard K. Tharp
Terri Hughes Lesley Wallace
Ruth Lucas Lori Werrell
Susan L. Markley Lisa Widmaier
Dr. Pat McLaine Joe Winn
Six Workgroup meetings are scheduled bi-monthly on the following dates. Meetings will be held in the lobby level conferences rooms at DHMH’s 201 West Preston Street location in Baltimore City. All meetings are expected to be from10:00 AM to 2:00 PM unless otherwise decided by the workgroup after the first meeting.
Meeting 1: September 22, 2014; 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Meeting 2: October 6, 2014
Meeting 3: October 20, 2014
Meeting 4: November 14, 2014
Meeting 5: December 1, 2014
Meeting 6: December 12, 2014
For meeting summaries and more information about the workgroup meetings and membership, visit the CHW Workgroup web page:
http://hsia.dhmh.maryland.gov/SitePages/CHW%20ADVISORY%20WORKGROUP.aspx