Pa. ranked among worst states for Latinos to live, thrive. State summit aims to fix that

Pennsylvania was ranked the second-worst state for Hispanics and Latinos to live and thrive in America in 2018, according to a report released by USA Today.

And unfortunately, things have barely improved. The 2019 report exhibited similar findings — Pennsylvania still sits in the top five, but now is ranked the fourth-worst state for the population to live. 

That's why the Latino Health Summit was started in 2018. It was designed to increase education and awareness around the main health concerns for Latinos, such as liver disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity and lung health.

On Tuesday, Latino Connection announced that York will host the state's second Latino Health Summit and Expo from April 17 to 18 at the York Expo Center.

"We hope that by working together we can improve not only the health and well-being of our Latino community," York Mayor Michael Helfrich said, "but also open up career paths, as there is a great demand for bilingual individuals within the medical field."

More:Updates: Who's planning to run for judge, other elected offices in York County in 2019

More:Spanish class in downtown York aims to break barriers

The two-day event will discuss how research, policies and practices can help better address cultural and language barriers and other health inequities.

“Long term commitments to evolve toward diversity and inclusion should be a fundamental requirement for health care organizations and their leaders," said George Fernandez, founder and CEO of Latino Connection. 

Last year's summit in Lancaster drew hundreds of people to the county's Convention Center, and this year's event is expected to be even more popular.

For more information and to register for the Latino Health Summit and Expo, go to www.palatinohealthsummit.org.