August 19, 2021

On August 17, 2021, Alex Ortega, PhD, professor in the department of Health Management and Policy at the Dornsife School of Public Health, and Dylan Roby, PhD, associate professor in the department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, co-wrote an editorial piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on racism and health care inequities.

The piece is titled, “Ending Structural Racism in the United States Health Care System to Eliminate Health Care Inequities.” It explores the long-standing history of race-based disparities in the U.S. healthcare system and more recently how the COVID pandemic has exacerbated inequities among American Indian, Black, Latino, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities who are at high risk of morbidity and mortality.

"Health equity can only be achieved through attention to the needs and perceptions of the communities served and to the elimination of racism and biases deeply imbedded in the system," the authors wrote.

Read the editorial piece

The piece received national news coverage by outlets including HealthDay, CNN and The New York Times. The CNN article also ran on News Channel Nebraska and WKKO-FM (K-100-Toledo, Ohio).