Voting for the Future our Patients Deserve

Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity (MDHEQ), is a non-profit organization that serves to educate health professionals about inequities and engages in grassroots community efforts. Its members have previously testified in front of the state senate, written opinion pieces, connected with local and regional representatives, have received grant funding for various efforts around health inequities and spoken at public forums to talk about health disparities. As a part of this same effort, they have also shed light on physician disengagement with the electoral process. Vot-ER is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to integrate civic engagement into health care. In the spring of 2020, an election year, VotER reached out to Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity. The two organizations have a natural alliance and have approached civic health with a similar mindset: to mobilize health professionals to be engaged in building a strong democracy. Vot-ER has developed nonpartisan civic engagement tools and programs for every corner of the healthcare system — from private practitioners to medical schools to hospitals. They also convene an annual month of action in August called Civic Health Month. Their work is driven by a community of healthcare professionals, organizers,

By Sakina Naqvi, MD, MBA and Aliya Bhatia, MPP

Sakina Naqvi, MD, MBA Aliya Bhatia, MPP

students, and technologists united by a common vision: healthy communities powered by inclusive democracy. MDHEQ and Vot-ER helped expand the work of voter access during the pandemic into the greater Minneapolis area, including bringing M Health Fairview, Hennepin Health, and Children’s Minnesota into the fold. In addition to these institutional level partnerships, Minnesota health professionals began using Vot-ER badges1 with their patients and medical students got involved through the Healthy Democracy Campaign2 competition. Together with organizations like MDHEQ, Vot-ER has now expanded Vot-ER programs into over 500 hospitals and clinics and helped more than 47,000 Americans prepare to vote. Vot-ER highlights the efforts of Minnesota’s committed health professionals in a case study that they share with their Civic Health Fellowship, a leadership development program focused on community organizing. Recently, the American Medical Association passed a resolution that affirms voting as a social determinant of health. The resolution points out the bi-directional link between voting and health outcomes. The resolution also takes it a step further and shines a light on gerrymandering, a vicious process corrupting our democratic system that locks the visions of our patients into maps that fail to uplift their voices. In doing so, the American Medical Association—the largest association of physicians in America—is helping to bring the health field into the broader coalition to protect and renovate America’s democratic infrastructure. Improving access to the vote is not merely a process of guaranteeing the rights enshrined in our constitution, but also an effective way to build a more equitable country and improve

our health outcomes. As the future of the health field is crafted from the rubble of COVID and the many moments of grief in America’s present, doctors can play a unique role in shaping the foundations of better health through voting, encouraging their patients to vote, and wherever possible, building more equitable systems to ensure that our voices are heard in the creation of policy at every level of government.

Sakina Naqvi, MD, MBA grew up in Karachi, Pakistan and attended Dow Medical College. She moved to the United States after her medical education and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center. She subsequently pursued a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at the University of Minnesota and has completed a Masters in Business Administration from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She currently serves as the Pulmonary Service Line Director at M Health Fairview and is also an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Having grown up in a developing country she has also had a strong interest in health disparities and led her to serve on the board of Minnesota Doctors for Health Equity (MDHEQ). She remains strongly connected to her roots in Pakistan and is currently involved in operationalizing a hospital that will focus on providing high quality, free of cost or at cost health care in Karachi, Pakistan. She can be reached at: Naqvi.sakina@ gmail.com.

As the future of the health field is crafted from the rubble of COVID and the many moments of grief in America’s present, doctors can play a unique role in shaping the foundations of better health through voting, encouraging their patients to vote, and wherever possible, building more equitable systems to ensure that our voices are heard in the creation of policy at every level of government.

Aliya Bhatia, MPP is the Executive Director at Vot-ER and Civic Health Month where she works to bring voter registration into healthcare settings, including emergency rooms, hospitals, and community health centers. She completed her Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School as a Sheila C. Johnson Leadership Fellow and is a graduate of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Aliya was drawn to the connection between health and democracy through the combination of being raised by parents in the medical field and various defining experiences while studying, teaching, and working on housing and health initiatives. Aliya started her career as a high school educator and then as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). She prioritizes diversity and inclusion in all her endeavors. Aliya resides in Washington, DC where she works to realize Vot-ER’s vision of healthy communities powered by an inclusive democracy. She is a Georgia native and has worked in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Missouri. She can be reached at: aliya@vot-er.org.

References: 1. https://vot-er.org/free-badge/ 2. https://vot-er.org/healthy-democracy-campaign/