Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz was joined today by Erie County Legislature Chair April N.M. Baskin (2^nd district) and Legislators Howard Johnson (1^st district) and Lisa Chimera (3^rd district) as he signed the Erie County Health Equity Act of 2021 into law. The new law (Local Law Intro. No. 3-1-2021) creates an Office of Health Equity (“OHE”) within the Erie County Health Department. This new office, headed by Director Kelly Wofford, will help ensure all minority and disadvantaged residents have equal access to preventive health care and will seek ways to promote health and prevent diseases and conditions that are prevalent among minority, marginalized, and disadvantaged populations including in rural areas. The OHE is tasked with providing access to health care, health care education, and preventive care resources to underserved and marginalized communities and communities of color.

The Local Law can be read here .

“The Office of Health Equity will bring a new focus to health care for underserved and disadvantaged communities and populations and will be a major factor in improving the health not only of these communities but of Erie County overall. This Office will be proactive and engaged countywide, identifying and addressing health issues that have existed for too long while promoting better public health for us all,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “I thank Legislature Chairwoman Baskin for her vision and work on this issue, as well as Legislators Chimera and Johnson, who also recognize the importance of this Law. Improving public health means addressing inequities and gaps in how it is delivered, and the Office of Health Equity is designed to do that.”

"Our County has faced its health challenges, from lead poisoning in our old housing stock to the recent cancer cluster on the East Side, we know that people of color and members of other minority communities have been denied access to fair and equitable healthcare," said Erie County Legislature Chair April N. M. Baskin. "COVID-19 exposed many of the inherent flaws in our healthcare system and greatly exacerbated the existing disparities between race, income, and gender in our society. The Erie County Division of Health Equity Act will address those disparities by creating an office whose sole responsibility will be to ensure Erie County’s health programs and policies address inequities and are executed in an equitable manner. I want to thank the County Executive and my colleagues in the Legislature for supporting the creation of this office."

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