Grants Aim To Improve Care for Hmong Residents
The California Endowment has granted $2.2 million to 10 organizations in the San Joaquin Valley to improve access to linguistically and culturally competent health care for Hmong health care consumers, the Fresno Bee reports. The area has one of the largest Hmong populations in the United States.
California Endowment President Robert Ross said that there is a "sheer lack of accessibility of health and health-related services" for the Hmong community and that "even when these communities have access to these services they lack a cultural relevance and responsiveness to Southeast Asian communities."
A $200,000 grant to the Fresno Center for New Americans will be used to hire a full time health advocate who will focus on language barriers, including federal laws that require patients to have access to interpreters. The center will work with clinics, hospitals and health care providers to address the lack of Hmong interpreters who can discuss complex medical cases.
Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries plans to use its $200,000 grant to help Hmong enter the health care workforce.
The California Endowment last week launched the two-year Hmong Health Project (Anderson, Fresno Bee, 9/4).