About DHEI (Diversity, Health Equity and Inclusion)
Disparate health outcomes for minorities, individuals experiencing homelessness, and other subsets of California’s population are the result of historic and systemic inequalities that persist today, and it has risen to the level of a public health crisis in California. Unequal access to health care and health resources, as well as unequal and damaging environmental conditions due to race, socioeconomic status, and other factors is untenable in a just and healthy society. Some facts*:
Black Californians have the highest rates of new prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer cases, and the highest death rates for breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer.
About one in five Latinx Californians report not having a usual source of care and difficulty finding a specialist.
Californians who are Native American and Alaska Native, as well as Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, are less likely to report having a checkup within the past year than other racial/ethnic groups.
*Source: California Health Care Foundation
Ensuring every Californian receives equitable, high-quality care requires long-term systemic solutions. California’s hospitals are on the front lines of mitigating health inequities. Within their communities, hospitals examine and address social determinants of health — factors such as housing instability, access to healthy foods, and community violence — that significantly affect health risks and outcomes.
Hospitals also continually work to improve patient experience and outcomes through a variety of initiatives, including a statewide maternal health quality collaborative; data collection and analysis on race, ethnicity, language preference, and other sociodemographic data; cultural competency training; increasing diversity in leadership and governance; and improving and strengthening community partnerships.
But hospitals alone cannot eliminate health disparities. It will take systemic reform, paired with broad partnerships across all segments of California’s communities, to break from the status quo.
Cherished Futures Collaborative Celebrates Black Maternal Health Week, Welcomes Three Participating Hospitals
LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2021—Today, Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies — a collaborative effort to reduce Black infant deaths and improve patient experiences and safety for Black mothers and birthing people — hosted a unique virtual discussion marking the second year of its work with hospitals, public health, payers, and Black community leaders. The convening […]
Merritt Hawkins Releases DEI White Paper
What’s the core meaning of diversity, equity and inclusion — or DEI for short? Each is an element of “a synergistic triad,” notes a new white paper from physician search firm Merritt Hawkins, a HASC Endorsed Business Partner. “Diversity generally refers to hiring people with different backgrounds, equity suggests fair treatment and opportunities for all individuals, while inclusion […]
OHC Spotlights Cherished Futures
Our Health California, the California Hospital Association campaign that advocates for care equity, this month posts an in-depth look at the Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies collaborative. Cherished Futures is an ongoing effort led by HASC’s Communities Lifting Communities initiative to address widespread inequities impacting Black women and their children. Over the past year and a half, the campaign’s goals have advanced following a […]
State Sen. Holly Mitchell Shares Quest for Better Outcomes for Black Moms, Babies
HASC’s Communities Lifting Communities and the Public Health Alliance of Southern California hosted a unique virtual workshop on birth inequities in the Black community on July 24. The event was part of Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies, a collaborative aimed at reducing Black infant deaths and improving patient experiences and safety among Black moms and birthing people in South […]
State Sen. Holly Mitchell, MLK CEO Joined Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies Workshop for Deep Dive Discussion on Birth Inequities in Los Angeles
Keynote speaker Sen. Holly Mitchell (D—Los Angeles) joined a lineup of visionary leaders to address Black infant mortality and patient experience and safety for Black mothers and birthing people. LOS ANGELES, July 24, 2020 – Communities Lifting Communities (CLC), the Public Health Alliance of Southern California, and the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) hosted a […]
Report Released: Creating Dramatic Public Health Gains Through Innovative Community Investment
HASC and its Communities Lifting Communities initiative with the Public Health Alliance of Southern California today released a landmark report outlining how multi-sector partnerships with public health, hospitals and health systems, community development and other sectors can marshal resources to significantly improve the health of neighborhoods and communities. “Our health care system has mostly focused on treating diseases rather than preventing people from getting […]
Centering Black Women’s Leadership and Experiences
Op-ed by Dana Sherrod, MPH Last week, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations, advocates, and policymakers across the nation were virtually celebrating the third-annual Black Maternal Health Week (April 11–17) and deepening the conversation about black maternal health in the U.S. While progress has been made, data shows that black mothers and their babies disproportionately experience […]
Addressing African American Infant Mortality Rates
Lower infant mortality rate among African Americans is focus of new pilot programs in California February 27, 2020, Los Angeles, CA – (BPT) – The U.S. infant mortality rate has fallen over the last two decades, but major disparities remain – and carry serious implications for overall health. In 2017, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and […]
Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies Launches to Address Disproportionate Rates of Infant and Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Among Black Women and Families
A multi-sector collaborative uniting key leaders and Black women to create system wide change January 27, 2020, Los Angeles, CA – Communities Lifting Communities (CLC), the Public Health Alliance of Southern California (Alliance), and the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC) today announced the launch of Cherished Futures for Black Moms & Babies, a collaborative effort to […]
In the Spotlight: Susan Harrington
Susan Harrington is executive director of Communities Lifting Communities — the HASC initiative aimed at health disparities and upstream factors affecting diabetes, preterm births and other public health challenges. She recently sat down with the HASC Strategic Communications team to discuss the initiative’s goals and work. Download a pdf version layout of this article here or below. CLC […]