The Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations (NEPO) today announced the winners of this year’s Ethnic Physician Leadership Award and Frank E. Staggers, Sr., M.D., Outstanding Ethnic Physician Organizations Award, two honors that were presented at the 2015 Building Healthy Communities Summit in Riverside.

NEPO, a project of the California Medical Association Foundation, is a coalition of more than 50 ethnic physician organizations in California, working to reduce health disparities and improve access to health care for their communities.

The Ethnic Physician Leadership Award was given to Richard Baker, M.D., a renowned ophthalmologist from Los Angeles, for his relentless advocacy for health equity. The Frank E. Staggers, Sr., M.D., Outstanding Ethnic Physician Organizations Award was presented to the Armenian American Medical Society (AAMS) for its work to improve health education and health care services in Los Angeles.

Dr. Baker is the co-founder of the Los Angeles Eye Institute, as well as the co-founder and executive director of the Drew Urban Telemedicine Center of Excellence. He also recently served as executive director of the Center for Health Services Research and as chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles.

AAMS focuses on delivering local health education to those in Los Angeles while running health projects in Armenia, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Project. AAMS sponsors the annual Glendale Health Festival, which serves more than 1,500 uninsured patients from ethnically diverse backgrounds each year; offers a weekly Armenian-language television show where health providers educate Los Angeles viewers on health topics; provides financial support and mentorship to aspiring health professionals through the AAMS scholarship program; and more.