Health Advocates
Rose C. Cuison-Villazor
NAPIL Fellow/Staff Attorney
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
151 West 30th St., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10019
(212) 244-4664, ext. 313
(212) 244-4570 (fax)
www.nylpi.org
rcv@NYLPI.ORG
LEP
Task Force Participant
Rose Cuison-Villazor
is a staff attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public
Interest, Inc. (NYLPI), a not-for-profit civil rights
law firm that works in three areas - access to health
care, disability rights and environmental justice. Rose
works in NYLPI's Access to Health Care Program, which
advocates on behalf of individuals who are denied access
to care in New York City's public and private hospitals
because of race, color, national origin, including those
persons with limited English proficiency (LEP),
disability and low-income status. Rose, also an Equal
Justice Works Fellow, has a Language Access Project at
NYLPI. Through her project, Rose litigates and advocates
on behalf of persons who are LEP against medical
providers. She also conducts Know-Your-Rights trainings
to community members and language rights advocates and
provides technical assistance to community-based
organizations engaged in language access advocacy.
Rose
earned her J.D. from the American University's
Washington College of Law in 2000. Prior to joining
NYLPI, she clerked for a year with the District of
Columbia Court of Appeals. While in law school, Rose
worked as a legal intern focusing on immigrants' rights
at Micronesian Legal Services Corporation, U.S.
Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and NOW
Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Gem
P. Daus, MA
Legislative and Governmental Affairs Coordinator
Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum
440 First St., NW, Suite 430, Washington, DC 20001
Ph: (202) 624-0007 Fax: (202) 624-9488
gdaus@apiahf.org
Headquarters: 942 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94102
Ph: (415) 954-9988 Fax: (415) 954-9999
LEP
Task Force Participant
Gem
P. Daus, M.A. is the Legislative and Governmental
Affairs Coordinator at the Asian & Pacific Islander
American Health Forum (APIAHF). APIAHF is a national
advocacy organization dedicated to promoting policy,
program, and research efforts for the improvement of
health status of all Asian and Pacific Islander
Americans. Gem coordinates federal education, outreach
and advocacy efforts on issues that affect the health
and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
and collaborates with other AAPI, minority health,
health care, consumer and immigrant organizations.
Priority issues of the Health Forum include: development
and implementation of culturally and linguistically
appropriate standards for health care services;
advocating for programs and appropriations that will
reduce and eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in health
status; ensuring access to quality health care including
public assistance programs (i.e., Medicaid, SCHIP); and
advocating for the improvement of federal data
collection, analysis and dissemination efforts.
Gem has a Master of Arts in Organization Development
from Marymount University (Arlington, Virginia) and a
Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of
Virginia (Charlottesville). His previous experience
includes developing community-based health programs,
coalition building, board development, and human
resource development through his employment with the
American Red Cross and the National Minority AIDS
Council, and his volunteer work as president of the
Asian and Pacific Islander Partnership for Health, a
regional health promotion and advocacy organization.
Phyllis D. Flowers
Health
Law Attorney
Advocates
for Basic Legal Equality
(ABLE)
740 Spitzer Bldg.
Toledo, Ohio 43604
Telephone (419) 255-0814
Fax (419) 259-2880
Email Address: pflowers@ablelaw.org
LEP Task Force Participant
1535 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
415/431-6747 x116 Office
415/431-0906 Fax
vertvi@consumer.org
LEP Task Force Participant
Vickie Vertiz is a health advocate with Consumers Union. She is actively participating in several workgroups exploring the implementation of cultural and linguistically appropriate medical services. Consumers Union is the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine that advocates for low to moderate income consumers across the country on issues of health, credit and finance, energy, conversions, and many other areas in California, Texas, and Washington D.C. Consumers Union does not endorse or take money from any interest groups but does support the efforts of other advocates across the country to empower consumers and, specifically to Vickie Vertiz' work, improve access to quality health care. To this end, Consumer's Union has sent letters to the Office for Civil Rights regarding their LEP guidance and actively works with local groups to press C & L issues such as quality of care issues, among other things.
Staff Attorney
National Health Law Program
2639 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90034
Phone: (310) 204-6010, ext. 3004
Fax: (310) 204-0891
www.healthlaw.org
LEP Task Force Participant
Doreena Wong is a staff attorney at the National Health Law Program, a national public interest law firm working to increase and improve access to quality health care on behalf of limited income people by providing legal analysis and representation, information, education, and policy. She provides support to the Health Consumer Alliance Project in California, as well as advocates for improved health care access for immigrants and the uninsured, and for culturally and linguistically appropriate health care for limited English proficient populations. She has participated on the National Advisory Committee for the Development of Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care and is currently a member of the Policy and Research Committee of the National Council on Interpretation in Health Care. After working as a health care worker for nine years and graduating from New York University School of Law in 1987, she worked in the areas of civil rights for a number of public interest organizations
Staff Attorney
National Health Law Program
1101 14th Street NW, Suite 405
Washington, DC 20005
ph: (202) 289-7661
fax: (202) 289-7724
www.healthlaw.org
LEP Task Force Participant
Mara Youdelman has worked at the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) since August, 2000 on issues including language access, racial and ethnic disparities, immigrants’ issues and Medicaid. Mara is the co-author of Providing Language Interpretation Services in Health Care Settings: Examples from the Field, which examines sources for providing language assistance to individuals with limited English proficiency in health care pursuant to a grant from The Commonwealth Fund. Mara recently completed work on a joint report with the Summit Health Institute for Research and Education, also funded by The Commonwealth Fund, entitled Racial, Ethnic and Primary Language Data Collection in the Health Care System: An Assessment of Federal Policies and Practices. Prior to joining NHeLP, Mara completed a teaching fellowship at Georgetown University Law Center’s Federal Legislation Clinic and two years litigating for the Administration for Children’s Services in New York City on child abuse and neglect cases. Mara earned her J.D. from Boston University School of Law and her LL.M. in Advocacy from Georgetown University Law Center.