The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT), the first and oldest national non-profit focused on equitable access to health technology for underserved communities and communities of color, announced its new board of directors today at the ViVE 2023 conference in Nashville, TN.

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved (NHIT), the first and oldest national non-profit focused on equitable access to health technology for underserved communities and communities of color, announced its new board of directors today at the ViVE 2023 conference in Nashville, TN.

NHIT hosted a Health Equity Series @ ViVE which brought together global tech leaders, clinicians, elected officials, policymakers, and key partners to deliver this dynamic track of action-oriented programming designed exclusively to support and sustain health equity and economic viability -- based on NHIT's five strategic pillars: Workforce, Innovation, Policy, Research, and Community.

NHIT welcomes the following highly respected experts in the fields of healthcare and technology to its board:

• Fadesola Adetosoye, Expert Associate Partner, McKinsey & Company
• Elizabeth Phillips Boudreau, International Head of Healthcare Workforce Development, AWS
• Donna Christensen, MD, Former Congresswoman, US Virgin Islands
• Adam Glasofer, MD, Global Head of Healthcare & Public Sector Venture Capital and Startups, AWS
• Michael Jackson, VP, Industry Strategy & Solutions, DocuSign
• Mark Johnson, MD Professor & Chair, Howard University College of Medicine
• Meera Kanhouwa, MD, MHA, FACEP, Director, Global Healthcare and Life Sciences, ProServe AWS
• April Mims, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Hims & Hers
• Fatima Paruk, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, SalesForce
• Elizabeth "Liz" Simonhoff Perez, Senior Director, TracFone

"NHIT is proud to include the leadership and commitment of these outstanding industry professionals to its board. As we celebrate our 15th anniversary this year, their support will be essential to further advance our efforts to address the needs of marginalized communities. We urge our national network of industry leaders and experts to embrace a collaborative approach driven by community voices. NHIT will continue to bring underserved communities, industry, and policymakers together to share ideas, resources, and human capital to empower and uplift both underserved communities and the community-driven organizations that represent them," stated Luis Belen, CEO of NHIT.

He added, "COVID proved at scale that telehealth and precision medicine are both viable and sorely needed in our communities. Our focus now is to work quickly and collaboratively to maintain and expand those programs. We are honored to be the trusted organization for our allies working at the intersection of health IT, infrastructure development, workforce development, and health equity. I am excited about the prospects of our organization and our life saving work. The future is bright."

In addition, Dr. Chris Gibbons will step in as Interim Executive Director of NHIT effective immediately while Mr. Belen takes a more limited role for the next six months to address health issues.

Gibbons is Founder and CEO of The Greystone Group, Inc and was involved in the creation of NHIT in 2008. He is intimately familiar with the organization and its key stakeholders. NHIT's activities and events will continue uninterrupted during Mr. Belen's absence.

NHIT will commemorate its 15th anniversary with exciting initiatives highlighting their work with the Biden-Harris White House, the United States Congress, and the private and nonprofit sectors.

"Luis has been a dedicated and stalwart leader who has taken NHIT to sustainable success over the years," stated Dr. Chris Gibbons, NHIT Interim Executive Director.

He continued, "I am committed to continuing Luis' great work until he returns soon with the same zeal and dedication he has always demonstrated. Under Luis' leadership, NHIT has established new partnerships, programs, and recruited new board members and institutional partners. With the help of its partners, NHIT has built the premier platform for Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) data and analytics available today. The Data Fusion Center is a valuable resource that can enhance the value of any organization's work to improve the health of underserved populations. NHIT is on solid ground for success and to help others be successful in the future."

For any day-to-day business questions, contact Dr. Gibbons (CGibbons@NHIT.org). For community or stakeholder engagement questions, contact Javier Cuebas (JCuebas@NHIT.org). For any media inquiries, contact Danny Vargas (PR@varcom.com).

About NHIT:
NHIT is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization on a mission to provide equitable access to health technologies and to make sure that these technologies address the needs of underserved communities and communities of color. Since its founding in 2008, NHIT has worked to advance health equity and economic viability on issues such as broadband access, electronic health records, precision medicine, consumer health applications and disaster resiliency. NHIT has collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Tyler Technologies to launch the NHIT Data Fusion Center, to tackle and translate social determinants of health (SDoH) data into actionable insights. For more information, visit NHIT.org.

Media Contact

Luis Belen, NHIT, 1 2027142542, LBelen@NHIT.org

SOURCE NHIT