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Health Equity

At Fidelis Care, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to live a healthy life. It’s our mission to ensure New Yorkers have access to high-quality healthcare, so they can get the care they need when they need it.

But many other factors contribute to an individual’s health and wellness beyond access to healthcare. Socioeconomic conditions can influence health risks and outcomes. Poverty, food insecurity, housing instability, education, employment, access to transportation and other circumstances contribute to health disparities among underserved and vulnerable populations.

Fidelis Care is committed to removing those barriers to health to improve access, quality, and affordability. It is an ongoing process that requires working together with our members, providers, and community-based organizations to support fair and just opportunities to equal access to healthcare.

Learn more about our different approaches to improve health equity:


Key partnerships

Wellness commitment to Buffalo Urban League

To nurture social entrepreneurship, facilitate wellness, and strengthen organizations focused on Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Buffalo’s East Side, Fidelis Care and the Centene Foundation donated $1.1 million to the Buffalo Urban League (BUL) to help establish its new headquarters and develop a Wellness and Entrepreneurial Center.

In addition, Fidelis Care partners with BUL through community programs and at events held in the city focused on health, family support and stabilization services, foster care, adoption, education, job training, employment, scholarships, and more.

Buffalo-Urban-League

Mental health alliance with The Jed Foundation

As part of our behavioral health efforts, Fidelis Care and the Centene Foundation awarded $1.1 million to The Jed Foundation (JED) to protect the mental health of New York State’s youth.

Through the funding, JED will expand its current services, providing at least five youth-serving community-based organizations (CBOs) with consultation or strategic planning services, including expert guidance, educational workshops, and training programs, equipping young people with life skills and connecting them to mental healthcare when they are in distress.

Fidelis-JED-Social


More Health Equity News


Reminder: 2026 Cultural Competency Training Requirements
4/28/2026 • Posted by Provider Relations in Provider News

Annual cultural competency training for participating providers is required by the New York State Department of Health.  At this time, The New York State DOH will only accept the approved training offered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Minority Health education program, Think Cultural Health, to fulfill the requirement for provider annual cultural competency training.*

Once the cultural competency training has been completed, providers need to verify completion of the program by emailing the Cultural Competency Attestation Form to: CulturalCompetencyTrainingAttestation@fideliscare.org.

The required Cultural Competency Training needs to be completed annually by December 31st. Providers that completed this training in 2025, will need to complete the training again by December 31, 2026.

The training is online, free, and offers several provider specific programs accessible here - Education - Think Cultural Health (hhs.gov). The provider specific programs include:

The DOH highly suggests providers complete the required training that corresponds with the provider’s scope of practice. Certain provider training programs have multiple courses within the training program. The provider is only required to take one of the courses if there are multiple course choices within the provider specific training program. Providers can alternate year-to-year between the various course.

  • Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselors, Nurses, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and Social Workers – four courses

  • Health Care Administrators and Providers – one course

  • Maternal Health Providers – one course

  • Nurses – three courses

  • Oral Health Professionals – three courses

  • Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants – three courses

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Please note: Providers that have completed the state-approved training during the calendar year are not required to complete the training again for Fidelis Care.  We ask that you simply complete and submit the Fidelis Care attestation to the designated email.

If you have any questions, please email omcmail@health.ny.gov, call our Provider Call Center at 1-888-FIDELIS (1-888-343-3547) or contact your local Provider Engagement Account Manager.

*New York State previously approved cultural competency training for behavioral health providers (see: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/bho/docs/cultural_competency_curriculum.pdf ). Therefore, behavioral health providers, may utilize either the Think Cultural Health or the approved BH training to meet this requirement.