UMMA Community Clinic
Enters National Dialogue on Healthcare Reform
Washington, DC: As the
nationwide debate about comprehensive healthcare reform
continues, the University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA)
Community Clinic appeared before an ad-hoc Congressional
hearing chaired by House Judiciary Chairman Congressman
John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI).
This is the first time that a Muslim-American healthcare
institution has been asked to weigh in on one of the crucial
issues of our time: the need to ensure universal access
to affordable healthcare.
The UMMA Clinic was among a handful of community leaders
and grassroots activists invited to participate in a special
Congressional hearing that discussed the current crisis
and future of the nation's healthcare system. Congress is
seeking UMMA's unique insight as a medical provider to thousands
of uninsured residents in Los Angeles, the nation's second
largest city.
While on Capitol Hill, UMMA's President and CEO, Yasser
Aman met with legislators and policy advocates in hopes
of coordinating efforts aimed at improving health care for
all. These meetings underscore the urgency for developing
sensible wide-reaching reform that establishes access to
affordable high-quality healthcare as a right for all people.
In July 2006, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) recognized
the clinic's historic contribution on the floor of the House
of Representatives, and saluted its exceptional, decade-long
attention to the health of South Los Angeles residents.
Just blocks from the flashpoint of the 1992 civil disturbances,
UMMA was founded in 1996 to revitalize a beleaguered region
in the aftermath of the civil turmoil that rocked the city.
These efforts, however, sprang from an unanticipated source:
Muslim-American students. Acting on the teachings of their
faith, these students transformed an abandoned, dilapidated
building into a vibrant clinic that would serve thousands
in the local community.
Eleven years later, UMMA's impact is felt on the national
and local levels. Nationally, UMMA was the first free medical
clinic founded by Muslim-Americans in the United States.
To Muslims, UMMA Clinic exemplifies core Islamic tenets
of mercy, compassion and social justice. Although a local,
faith-based enterprise, UMMA is not a religious organization
and welcomes everyone who walks through its doors. In fact,
of its 15,000 regular patients, 95% are not Muslim.
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