Cultural Competency in Patient Centered Care - Speakers
Speakers:
Pam Mullaney, MBA is the Director of Membership Services for the Kentucky Hospital Association (KHA), representing hospitals and related healthcare organizations dedicated to sustaining and improving the health status of the citizens of Kentucky.
Since 2005, she has been providing membership services to hospitals to enhance their ability to deliver health care services to their community. Ms. Mullaney's primary responsibilities include the development and implementation of communication and marketing strategies for the positions, programs and services of KHA and its subsidiaries.
One program Ms. Mullaney is proud to steer for the Association is "Effective Communications in Hospitals," a collaborative partnership with the US Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the American Hospital Association.
The KHA steering committee is made up of 15 hospital representatives and committed individuals from the Cabinet of Health and Family Services, Louisville Metro Office of International Affairs and the Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The objective of the initiative is to provide technical assistance and support to hospitals to better facilitate effective communication with individuals who are Limited English Proficient, and deaf or hard of hearing.
Marshall Tobias is a Senior Civil Rights Analyst with the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office for Civil Rights, where he has worked for over 30 years.
Currently, he is the lead Analyst for limited English proficiency programs in Region IV.
He has a BA and Masters degree. Mr. Tobias has been very active with language access issues in all eight states in Region IV for the last 10 years. He has provided training, briefings, technical assistance, conducted compliance reviews and investigated reports of violations.
Mr. Tobias received the National Directors Investigator Award, 2000, for exceptional work ensuring non-discriminatory access to and participation in HHS-funded activities.
He is serving as the Coordinator for Region IV for the HHS/OCR/KHA Initiative.
Beatriz Romero-Escobar is originally from Colombia, South America and has worked with the Latin-American community for over ten years.
She obtained her psychology degree from the University of Alaska. While serving as vice-president and president of the Latin-American Student Association, she directed and coordinated events within the university to raise awareness of the cultural traditions of Latin-American students.
Beatriz was one of the founders of the Council for Latin-Americans in Alaska, a non-profit agency whose main goal is to advocate for the Latin-American community by helping obtain fair access to all available resources. Beatriz played an instrumental role in obtaining the Council's non-profit status and membership to the Council La Raza. She served as an advocate of the Council during meetings with governmental officials and local leaders in order to raise awareness of the important contributions and growing influence of Latin-Americans in the community.
After graduating with honors, Beatriz worked for the Social Security Administration until she joined the Office for Civil Rights in late 2005 as an Equal Opportunity Specialist.
Moderator:
Carol Waldemayer is a member of SHCA for the past 4 years, with more than 25 years in healthcare. During the past 13 years at Hardin Memorial Hospital, she has been active in Patient Advocacy, Quality Management, Medical Staff Services, and regulatory compliance. Carol has participated on numerous committees through the years, including more recently the formation of a Palliative Care Team at her hospital comprised of a multidisciplinary group who has developed forms and policies, educated staff and physicians, and marketed this tool to the community. In her patient advocate role, Carol has been involved in a state and nationwide collaborative with AHA and the Office for Civil Rights to improve and assure effective communication for limited English proficient patients and deaf/hard of hearing patients.
Carol is the Past President of the Kentucky SHCA Chapter and has been a member of SHCA for the past 4 years. Currently, Carol is serving as a SHCA Board member for Region 7. She is an active participant with the SHCA Member Value Committee in the development of the SHCA educational Webinars. Other interests are with the SHCA Chapter Development Committee.