PAEA Student Advocacy Opportunity to Advance Diversity in Health Care
On July 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET/10:00 a.m. PT, PAEA’s Government Relations team will be hosting a virtual student advocacy event titled, “PA Students Demand Change: Advance Diversity in Health Care.” The event calls on PA students and stakeholders to send coordinated tweets to their senators in support of S. 4055 — the Strengthening America’s Health Care Readiness Act. It is intended to raise awareness of what the bill would accomplish by significantly increasing the volume of messaging on the bill that reaches congressional Twitter accounts.
As Congress begins negotiations for the next COVID-19 relief package, generating such awareness is critical to ensuring the inclusion of S. 4055 in the legislation. That is why PAEA is inviting all PA faculty members to share this event with their students and encourage them to participate.
In late June, PAEA endorsed the Strengthening America’s Health Care Readiness Act after previously collaborating with the office of Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) in April on a similar proposal known as the Health Heroes 2020 Act. If enacted, the bill would:
- Make a historic $5 billion emergency investment in the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship and loan repayment programs
- Establish a new NHSC Emergency Service program through which providers could obtain loan forgiveness in exchange for agreeing to practice in assigned settings during health emergencies/disasters
- Require 40 percent of NHSC funds to support students and clinicians from underrepresented minority communities
Questions about this event or S. 4055 can be directed to Tyler Smith at tsmith@PAEAonline.org.
