NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The National Hispanic Health Foundation (NHHF) hosts its 11th annual NYC Awards Gala where 10 students enrolled in health professional schools will be given scholarships to help finish school and become health providers and experts in NY and the Eastern U.S. Since 2005, NHHF has awarded $511,000 to 174 students across the nation.

The event will be December 4, 2014, at New York Academy of Medicine, from 6:30 to 11:00 p.m.

Also being honored are key leaders for transforming their organizations so that more Latinos will have access to healthcare:

• Jay Hershenson, Vice Chancellor, City University of New York
• Yvette Calderon, MD, MS, Assistant Dean of the Office of Diversity Enhancement at Albert Einstein College of Medicine
• Manuel Gonzalez, Co-Founder & CEO, Pediatric Innovations USA
• Natalie Morales, News Anchor, NBC Today Show
• Luis Rosero, Director of Hispanic Business Strategy, Toyota Motor North America

“The NHHF Scholarship Gala honors these leaders to inspire the student scholars to deliver quality healthcare, given the new 10 million insured Latinos we have with the Affordable Care Act this year,” said Dr. Elena Rios, President and CEO of NHHF and NHMA. “And by partnering with visionary sponsors, we are able to increase the number of trusted healthcare providers for Latino families.”

The United Health Foundation is the Presenting Sponsor and dedicated $160,000 to NHHF’s Health Professional Student Scholarship Program. The other sponsors of the program include City University of NY, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, North Shore LIJ, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, Healthcare Education Project, New York Presbyterian, The Commonwealth Fund, and the Latino Commission on AIDS AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, New York Life Insurance, Maximus, Aetna, Pfizer, MGM Foundation, Toyota, and the American Beverage Association.

The NHHF Health Professional Student Scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding student leaders who are committed to careers in the Hispanic community. They were selected by the Latino Caucus of the American Public Health Association, Hispanic Dental Association, Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, American Podiatry Association, Physician Assistants for Latino Health, American Association of Pharmacy Schools and the National Hispanic Medical Association. The 2014 scholarship award winners are:

Brenda Lopez, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Dentistry
Gladys Arias,  NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
William Cortes, Fairleigh Dickinson University School of Pharmacy
Keyla Gervais, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Jeffrey Reynoso, Harvard School of Public Health
Ana Cisneros, Hofstra North Shore – LIJ School of Medicine
Lydiesther Martinez, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago
Josue Ordaz, Indiana University School of Medicine – Lafayette
Kenneth Price, New York University School of Medicine
Maria Saavedra, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford

NHHF is the 501(c)(3) organization started by the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), that represents 50,000 Hispanic physicians across the U.S. The mission of NHHF is to improve the health of Hispanics through research and educational activities.