Ciscomani Hosts HHS Secretary Kennedy and HRSA Admin Engels, Holds Roundtable with Local Leadership

Tucson, AZ - Congressman Juan Ciscomani this week hosted Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Administrator Thomas Engels of the Health Resources and Services Administration on a visit to Arizona's Sixth Congressional District. As part of the visit, the Congressman held a roundtable with Secretary Kennedy, Administrator Engels, and local leadership to discuss the current status and recent advances of the healthcare industry in southeastern Arizona. The roundtable covered a variety of health-related issues, including the Make America Health Again initiative, local physicians' efforts to advance access to healthy food and preventative care, and the need to continue to focus health research funding on women's health and Alzheimer's research and care specifically.

"It was an honor to join Secretary Kennedy at this roundtable and bring together local leaders alongside a fearless advocate who has championed our shared goal of making America healthy again," said Ciscomani. "This discussion was an invaluable opportunity to collaborate on how we can advance that mission across Southern Arizona, from supporting our children to strengthening care for seniors in our communities. I am proud of the work our health care leaders are doing in our communities and appreciated learning more about the unique talents and services each of these industry professionals bring to serve our region. I thank the Secretary for taking the time to hear directly from our community and for helping elevate the needs of Arizona's Sixth District and beyond at the federal level."

Participants included:

• Josh Carzoli, Marana Health CEO
• Elizabeth Gonzalez Gann, The Diet of Hope Institute
• Dr. Eric Cornidez, Pain Institute of Southern Arizona
• Dr. Neil Gheewala, US Heart and Vascular Interventional Cardiologist
• Dr. Bart Carter, Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center Chairman and CEO
• Dr. Eddie Estrada, Sun Life Health Center CEO
• Jennifer Mendrzycki, Tucson Medical Center President and CEO
• Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, Banner-University Medicine Tucson President of Academic Delivery
• Clint Kuntz, El Rio President/CEO
• Dr. Scott DeMent, DeMent Family Chiropractic
• Monica Vargas, Carondelet Health Network Market Chief Executive Officer and St. Joseph's Hospital CEO
• Dr. Jonathan Melk, Chiricahua Community Health Centers CEO
• Joe Snell, Chamber of Southern Arizona President

During the roundtable, Congressman Ciscomani highlighted his continued efforts to support local hospitals, clinics, and healthcare programs.

As Arizona's sole appropriator, Ciscomani has supported the Make America Healthy Again initiative by pushing through $100 million in funding for MAHA in Fiscal Year 2026, which will allow the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to invest in prevention and innovation programs for rural communities, telehealth resources for chronic care, and nutrition services. At the same time, he voted to include Multicancer screening coverage in Medicare to revolutionize early cancer detection and prevention and the Healthy Start blood pressure monitoring pilot, distributing cuff kits to 12 states, to support healthy moms and babies by reducing major detriments of maternal health, such as preeclampsia.

Additionally, the Congressman has prioritized women's health by voting for $100M for the Office of Research on Women's Health in FY26, $23.5M above FY24. This legislation specifically included language on diseases that disproportionately or differently affect women down to a cellular level. As a former member of the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Committee, Ciscomani also questioned the former Secretary of HHS on the Department's specific efforts to prioritize women's health. He also cosponsored the Women's Heart Health Expansion Act of 2026 (H.R. 7417).

The Congressman has also made efforts to advance research and treatment options for Alzheimer's patients. For FY26, Ciscomani voted for a $100M increase for Alzheimer's related funding through NIH and CDC, bringing total research funding up to $3.9 billion. He also cosponsored the ASAP Act (H.R.6130), which would give the HHS Secretary the authority to approve Medicare coverage for blood test screenings for dementia.

For general healthcare, Ciscomani voted to increase funding of the NIH by $100M for FY26 and nearly $50M for the National Cancer Institute. He also cosponsored, the Improving Seniors' Timely Access to Care Act (H.R. 3514) which addresses hospital issues regarding treating seniors, including making it easier to bill Medicare.

During this week's visit, Secretary Kennedy and Administrator Engels during their visit made two Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) that will directly benefit the communities of AZ-06.

The Residency Planning and Development Program NOFO:

• Supports development of rural residency programs in key specialties, including family medicine, psychiatry, general surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology.
• Addresses physician workforce shortages in rural communities.
• Encourages training in rural settings, where currently only 2% of residency training occurs.
• Covers start-up costs such as accreditation, faculty development, and recruitment.
• FY23 award example: University of Arizona (Tucson) - $750,000.

Secondly, the Expanding Nutrition Services (ENS) in Health Centers NOFO:

• Increases access to nutrition services at HRSA-funded health centers.
• Nutrition services can help to prevent, manage, and treat diseases and conditions through nutritional and food-based interventions.
• Health centers will use ENS funding to increase the number of nutrition services patients or visits.
• HRSA is expecting to award $125,000,000 to 357 health centers.

Congressman Ciscomani is proud to have hosted Secretary Kennedy and Administrator Engels to share with them both the unique needs of southeastern Arizona's healthcare industry, as well as the advances and successes of the industry. The Congressman remains committed to pushing legislation that directly supports access to proper healthcare resources in AZ-06.

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