In the summer of 2020, almost 60% of Nebraskans with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were of Hispanic or Latino descent.
That alarming statistic drove a startlingly effective education and vaccination effort that, in turn, led to the creation of the first Nebraska chapter of the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), housed at UNMC.
The grim statistic “was a call,” said Armando De Alba, MD, founding co-chair of the association and assistant dean of diversity, equity and inclusion for student programs in the UNMC College of Medicine.
Hispanic and Latino providers from UNMC and Nebraska Medicine joined with the Douglas County Health Department and other entities to create culturally tailored events such as vaccine clinics and community programs for Hispanic communities to combat COVID-19 misinformation and to increase vaccination rates among the Hispanic population in Nebraska. These events provided the foundation for the creation of the NHMA Nebraska chapter.
“Dr. De Alba really recognized that need and brought together other Latino health care providers to help provide linguistically and culturally appropriate education to all the community,” said Sara Bares, MD, founding Nebraska NHMA co-chair and associate professor in the division of infectious diseases. “We saw that Latino patients were getting COVID more frequently but also had decreased access to testing sites, treatment options, information about research studies and even were underrepresented in vaccine trials across the country.”
Today, according to the Douglas County Health Department, Hispanics and Latinos have the highest vaccination rate in Douglas County, with 62% of the population vaccinated.
“Obviously, this was an enormous and very collaborative effort,” Dr. De Alba said. “But the Nebraska NHMA has received recognition from the county that our contribution has significantly helped to increase the vaccination rates and the trust between the local community and the health care services.”
Dr. Bares said that the clinics, where members of the community also spoke with health professionals about barriers they faced, illustrated the need for the new organization, which began as a UNMC interest group in 2021 and became an official NHMA state chapter in early 2022.
“Nationally, one in five Americans are Latino and only 5.8% of U.S. physicians are Latino,” Dr. Bares said. “Only 2% are female Latino physicians. We are working to meet all the needs of our communities in more than just clinical care but also in terms of health equity and representation in academia and research. Those are the big picture goals.”
Apart from the vaccination events – which included a high-impact event with a visit from international soccer star Luis Hernandez – the chapter has held HIV outreach events, a skin cancer screening and a general health screening. But the new chapter is contributing more than medical knowledge, Dr. De Alba said.
“We also are sharing our cultural knowledge and our knowledge of language to provide quality care to the communities that we serve and beyond.”
Additionally, the new chapter, one of only nine chapters across the country, is working to “create a sense of belonging within our peers at UNMC, contributing to the efforts of recruitment and retention,” Dr. De Alba said.
It has teamed with the Latino Medical Student Association (see sidebar) on several events, providing didactic talks as well as one-on-one mentorship, and members have participated in a student-run “medical Spanish” curriculum, as well.
The next step, Dr. Bares said, is to grow the group beyond UNMC and Nebraska Medicine.
“We plan to reach out to other academic institutions, providers and organizations across state,” she said, pointing out that since NHMA is a longstanding national entity, there may be Nebraska members of the national association who are not yet aware of the state chapter.
The group will close what Dr. De Alba called “a very positive year that has exceeded expectations” with an event on Dec. 9 from 6-9 p.m. at the Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel, 302 S. 36th St. in Omaha. While celebrating the year’s achievements and naming a new NHMA chair, the association also invites people who are interested in joining the association to drop in and learn more.
See more information on the National Hispanic Medical Association