Advancing Health Literacy by Growing Community Health Workers

Webinar Information:

Live Webinar on May 20, 2022 at 10 am PST. Recording to follow. 

In response to significant COVID-19 disparities, Washington County received funding to advance COVID-19 health literacy among Hispanic/Latinx residents. Washington County developed strong partnerships with local and trusted community organizations and health systems to 1) increasing CHW workforce,2) increasing CHW capacity through the formation of the Community Health Worker Learning Collaborative (CHWLC), and 3) integrating learnings from the CHWLC in health care settings. This presentation highlights the importance of addressing both personal and organizational health literacy to ensure equitable access equitable access to COVID-19 information and services.

The Health Equity Webinar Series is a free online webinar series designed to showcase dynamic work being accomplished to enhance health equity opportunities. This series discusses different innovative implementations, strategies, best practices, success stories, and experiences impacting health equity in communities served with public health professionals around the nation. 

Health Equity Webinars are hosted live on the third Friday of each month at 10 am PST.   

To join the live session, please enroll in the course before 10am PST on the day of the webinar. All Health Equity sessions are recorded. If you enroll after the live webinar session has ended, the course will contain a video recording of the live session you can watch instead. Please note, it may take up to one month for the recording to become available.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing this webinar, participants will be able to:

  1. Define personal and organizational health literacy and the importance of both in improving access to COVID-19 care, testing, and vaccine services. 
  2. Application of National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS).
  3. Examine equitable practices for local public health agencies when partnering with community organizations to bridge gaps and address health disparities.


Target Audience:

  • Public health professionals
  • Community members 
  • Students


Duration: ~ 1 hour 

Continuing Education: N/A

Speakers: Armando Jimenez, MPH, CPH , Magdalena Ramirez, MPH , Jonathan Geertsen, MPH 

About the Speaker

Armando Jimenez, MPH, CPH 

Armando is the Health Literacy Senior Program Coordinator at Washington County and has over a decade of experience in public health, health literacy, education, and community partnerships. Previously serving as Service Branch Director at OHSU Health Hillsboro Medical Center, Armando played an important role in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout directing staff and volunteer deployment efforts and leading operations at the Hillsboro Stadium COVID-19 Vaccination Center to vaccinate over 55 thousand individuals.

Magdalena Ramirez, MPH 

Magdalena is the Health Literacy Program Communication and Education Specialist at Washington County. Magdalena’s public health focus has been in health promotion and chronic disease management at the community level in historically underserved populations, in particular the Hispanic/Latinx community.

Jonathan Geertsen, MPH 

Jonathan is the internal evaluator at Washington County for the Advancing Health Literacy Grant. Jonathan’s professional public health career began with Washington County’s initial COVID-19 response, supporting the initial pandemic response with a focus on assisting Long-Term Care Facilities. Responsibilities grew to supporting communicable disease and STI divisions at Washington County, before shifting focus to the AHL grant and related activities.


Course curriculum

  1. 01

    • Download Calendar Reminder

    • Health Equity Series Welcome

    • Webinar Description and Presenter Bios

    • Demographic Survey

    • Webinar Replay

    • Webinar Handouts

    • Course Evaluation

    • Save the Date for Next Month's Health Equity Webinar