Hmong Health Care Professionals Coalition

The Hmong Health Care Professionals Coalition (HHCPC) is a partnership of Hmong public health experts based in St. Paul. Since its founding in 1995, the HHCPC has grown to become a central health resource for Minnesota’s Hmong community. Its members and volunteers conduct research, educate patients, develop best practices, and provide leadership to other health groups.

The HHCPC was founded in 1995 by Mao Heu Thao, Health Coordinator for the St. Paul–Ramsey County Department of Public Health. Having worked with the Hmong community, Thao knew that the language barrier and a lack of education about Western practices limited many Hmong families’ access to health care. Her vision for HHCPC was to provide networking and support opportunities and to build trust between Hmong patients and their doctors.

Soon after its founding, the HHCPC held its first annual Hmong Health Fair during Lao Family Community of Minnesota’s Hmong Freedom Celebration at Como Park. Later fairs focused on specific issues to meet the evolving needs of attendees. The event’s staff are equipped to screen over four hundred Hmong individuals for diabetes, hypertension, and dental caries in a single day.

Also in 1995, HHCPC launched its first health survey at the Hmong New Year celebration in St. Paul. The survey gauged how much the Hmong community understood, and was comfortable with using, Western health care systems. After reviewing the survey’s results, HHCPC launched The Hmong Health Talk Show with Kev Koom Siab TV (KKS). The program, produced in the Hmong language, aired on KTCA Channel 17.

In 1996, the HHCPC conducted a second component of the survey during the Hmong New Year. It assessed the impact of The Hmong Health Talk Show and asked whether viewers had shared what they learned with their families. A 1998 survey showed that the show was truly effective, reaching and impacting 95 percent of surveyed Hmong Minnesotans. Due to limited funding, KKS ended in 2004.

Since 2001, HHCPC has supported Hmong Education and Resources Today (HE&RT). The nonprofit clearinghouse connects Hmong families with public and private health care services. Working with groups like HE&RT, HHCPC continued to close the gap between Western health care providers and Hmong patients.

In 2005, the coalition organized the “Strengthening Hmong Health in the Twenty-First Century” conference at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The event targeted health care professionals who work with the Hmong community. In 2008, the coalition took part in the Sixth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations.

A second conference at the MDH, “Understanding Contemporary Hmong Culture, Traditions and Spirituality for Better Health,” followed in 2010. Like the first, its goal was to educate health and human services workers who serve the Hmong in Minnesota.

Since 2008, HHCPC has been active in multiple media outlets. Health-related shows advocating healthy living reach listeners through KFAI and KFXN (Hmong Radio AM 690).

In 2011, HHCPC launched Operation Free Flu Shot. The program— a partnership between the Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative, the Open Cities Health Center, St. Paul–Ramsey Public Health, and UCare Minnesota—offers free flu shots in high-traffic areas.

HHCPC held the second Operation Free Flu Shot in 2012. It served patients at seven different sites: four metro-area churches, the Hmong New Year celebration, the Hmong Resource Fair, and the Hmong International Marketplace. In total, HHCPC vaccinated 902 people between three and one hundred years old.

In 2014, HHCPC hosted its third conference, “Koj Puas Nyob Zoo / The State of Mental Health in the Hmong Community,” at St. Paul’s Wilder Foundation.

In 2015, HHCPC members and volunteers are leaders and experts in the public health field. They include doctors, nurses, consultants, educators, social workers, and interpreters. Their contributions have made the coalition a leader among health groups and a resource for Hmong and non-Hmong communities alike.