Great Lakes Wire

Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II received a national honor on March 31 for his leadership in bettering health outcomes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The award was presented by the NLGA. 

Lt. Governor Gilchrist was first elected in 2018.

“NLGA partners in this recognition process to assist in bipartisan identification of leaders committed to effectively tackling the current and future challenges of our nation," NLGA Director Julia Brossart said. “By recognizing Lt. Governor Gilchrist, attention is brought to his accomplishments in Michigan in a way that can bring ideas to other states and territories.”

Gilchrist declared he was honored to receive the award.

“I appreciate this recognition, as well as the opportunity to spread the word about Michigan’s unique efforts to improve the quality of life for all residents, especially those most at-risk and in need," Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II said. “I hope my peers in other states can learn from our experiences and achieve similar, positive results in their communities.”

While presenting the award, Patrick Gillespie, Anthem Regional Vice President of State Affairs, also praised Gilchrist. 

“Lt. Governor Gilchrist’s passion for addressing health disparities and improving health outcomes is a great example for state government leaders across the country," Gillespie said. "While the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many disparities in access to healthcare for low-income and at-risk communities, Lt. Gov. Gilchrist’s statewide leadership to tackle these challenges on a systemic level should be commended, and we are honored to present him with this recognition.”

Important priorities for Gilchrist are innovation, reform, and modernization. Under his leadership, the Michigan Coronavirus Racial Disparities Taskforce took measures to fight the out of balance impact of coronavirus on communities of color, creating programs to increase the number of residents with health insurance, improve testing sites in high-need areas, and embedding sites in neighborhoods to contribute cultural and language assistance and education on vaccines.

Consequently, Michigan has seen major improvements in limiting COVID-19 disparities in communities of color. A study by the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices showed that the task force has made prominent and replicable progress towards its goal of decreasing health-based racial inequality associated with coronavirus.