Black History Month and health equity

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Black History Month is the perfect time to ask, “What progress is your hospital making in equity of care? What progress are you making in support of the idea that a person’s fate in life should not be predetermined by the color of their skin?” 

The AHA’s #123forEquity campaign is critically important to the effort to end health care disparities and advance diversity and inclusion.

More than 1,140 hospitals and health systems and 60 state and metropolitan associations have signed the pledge to take specific actions to increase the collection and use of data on race, ethnicity and language preference, as well as on cultural competency training and diversity in leadership and governance. Signers also commit to report on their progress promoting diversity.

We are not done – not by a long shot. Achieving care equity and greater diversity is a crucial part of solving America’s current – and future – health care challenges. Equitable care for all patients is both the right thing to do and central to hospitals’ ongoing quality improvement work and part of a business imperative moving forward.  

Have you signed the pledge? If not, please do so today.