Who We Are

Founded as a non-profit organization in 1998, the National Minority Health Month Foundation, Inc. (NMHMF) was established to strengthen national and local efforts to eliminate the disproportionate burden of premature death and preventable illness in racial and ethnic minorities and other special populations through the use of evidence-based, data-driven initiatives. The Foundation, formed by Dr. Gary Puckrein, recognizes the need for a credible, objective and reliable source of integrated data and expertise to eliminate health disparities among all minority populations by building public/private partnerships, fostering cultural competency among health care providers, encouraging health education and training and expanding the use of state-of-the-art technology.

The primary goal of NMHMF is to assist healthcare providers, administrators, policymakers and community and faith-based organizations deliver precise health care services to high-risk communities by analysis of current information, organization of health care networks and management of minority health care resources.

In April 2001, the Foundation launched National Minority Health Month in response to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Healthy People 2010 initiative, a national health promotion and disease prevention program. Each year, NMHMF hosts a leadership summit and an awards dinner during the month of April that brings together congressional leaders, federal executives, physician leaders, managed care and pharmaceutical industry representatives, as well as other critical stakeholders, to support the implementation of integrated solutions to the problem of minority population health disparities. The Third Annual Leadership in Health Disparities Summit is featured on this web site.

The Foundation has received support from a wide variety of organizations, including federal agencies, pharmaceutical companies, purchasers and payors. With support from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Foundation has developed a comprehensive relational data platform for identifying the prevalence of health status and health care disparities at the ZIP code level - allowing the organization to house vital statistics, demographic, environmental, claims, prescription drug, clinical laboratory values, health care access points and other data elements into one centralized data warehouse. As a result, the Foundation is able to measure and forecast health status in small geographic areas, evaluate the impact of specific interventions, monitor changes in health outcomes and serve as a valuable resource for the health disparities movement.