Senate Aging Committee examines COVID-19 and racial health disparities

Jul 22, 2020 - 03:33 PM
senate-hearing-rountable

The Senate Special Committee on Aging yesterday held a hearing on the COVID-19 pandemic and seniors, which focused on racial health disparities.

Former AHA Board Chair Gene Woods, president and CEO of Atrium Health in Charlotte, N.C., testified about Atrium’s initiatives to address the needs of minority and underserved communities, including the use of geospatial hotspotting to identify zip codes most impacted by COVID-19 and direct needed resources to those areas. 

Woods also noted the benefits of telehealth in reaching underserved communities and advocated for extending its expanded use beyond the pandemic.

Also testifying at the hearing were Dominic Mack, M.D., director of the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta; Mercedes Carnethon, vice chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago; and Rodney Jones Sr., CEO of East Liberty Health Center in Pittsburgh.

Related News Articles

Blog
Grassroots Leadership: A Journey of Service and Advocacy
Melony G. Griffith President & CEO Maryland Hospital AssociationGrowing up in Great Falls, Mont., raised by two military veterans and public…
Blog
Leading Towards Health Equity: What Juneteenth Means for Health Care
The Meharry School of Global Health is the realization of a promise made by Meharry Medical College almost 150 years ago — a promise born out of the legacy of…
Headline
AHA video: IU Health brings health care to the barbershop to help address disparities 
As part of Community Health Improvement Week June 10-14, the AHA released a video showcasing the impact Indiana University Health's iHEART collaborative has…
Headline
AHA names winners of 2024 Equity of Care Award
The AHA announced June 5 that Main Line Health in Radnor, Pa., Augusta Health in Fishersville, Va., and AnMed in Anderson, S.C., are the three honorees for…
Blog
RAND 5.0 – The Health Policy Equivalent of Groundhog Day
The RAND Corporation recently released the fifth iteration of its biannual hospital price report. The AHA has previously highlighted significant flaws with…
Perspective
Supporting Hospital and Health System Boards as We Navigate a Changing Health Care Landscape
The many complexities of health care today continue to challenge hospital and health system governing boards to ensure that high-quality patient care is…