David J. Skorton, MD, president and CEO of the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), issued the following statement upon the introduction of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act by Speaker Pelosi and House democratic leaders:
“The AAMC is grateful that the HEROES Act introduced in the House addresses many important issues facing the medical schools, teaching hospitals, researchers, and faculty physicians who are on the front lines of the nation’s response to COVID-19. We also are encouraged by the timeliness of this legislation, recognizing the critical importance of delivering additional support and initiatives to help contain this pandemic.
We appreciate that the bill includes targeted provisions to provide relief for health care providers and ensure that critical safety net providers, including major teaching hospitals and faculty physicians, are able to continue delivering care to their patients and communities across the country. We also welcome the bill’s proposed investment to expand testing capacity and contact tracing, as well as the additional student loan relief and funding for higher education, including recognition of unique medical education challenges. Additionally, the AAMC is grateful that the legislation takes steps to mitigate disruptions to medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health, and we look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers to ensure that we are able to fully restore momentum to both NIH-supported and other federally funded research.
As the package moves forward, we urge all lawmakers to come together to pass legislation with broad support that will help all of those impacted by this national emergency as quickly as possible.”
The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. Its members comprise all 155 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their 173,000 faculty members, 89,000 medical students, 129,000 resident physicians, and more than 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences. Additional information about the AAMC and its member medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org.