Racism is present today in our community and healthcare system. What does it look like? A Black patient with symptoms of COVID-19 not receiving adequate medical care. A Latinx family living in a home infested with mold and pests causing frequent asthma exacerbations and hospitalizations. A Black child with behavioral concerns being more likely to be physically restrained when coming to the hospital for a mental health crisis. A clinical guideline for urinary tract infections using race as a risk factor for disease.
How can we as a community and healthcare system end structural, systemic, and as a colleague shared recently, everyday racism?
We need to name racism. We have to not be afraid to say, "What you just said was racist", or, "The way you just acted was discriminatory". This can be hard. In the medical community there is a hierarchy which makes speaking up sometimes feel impossible or subject to consequence. However, just like we speak about safety events, all members of the medical team, regardless of level of training, are encouraged to speak out when a medical error occurs. Just like we have checklists in the intensive care unit to reduce central line infections, pressure wounds, and medication errors, the treatment of patients and families in a racist or discriminatory manner should be monitored with the same consistency and rigor.
How can we as a community and healthcare system end structural, systemic, and as a colleague shared recently, everyday racism?
We need to ask about racism. The only way to fully identify and expose racist behaviors and systems is to ask families about their experiences. We must humanize the families that we care for through trying to understand their lived experiences, both in the hospital and at home. In a step forward toward recreating an anti-racist environment, a group of pediatric residents and faculty worked together to create an anti-racism statement and reporting system for the Yale New Haven Health System. It is currently being piloted in the Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital where it is posted throughout the multiple units and clinics. We must be medical providers as well advocates.
Dr. Molly Markowitz is a pediatric hospitalist at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, pediatrician at Fair Haven Community Health Center, Co-Director Flourishing Families Yale Pediatric Residency Advocacy Track & Curriculum, and Co-Editor of Paw Prints: A Yale Pediatrics Blog.
Dr. Marietta Vazquez is a Professor of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine Section of Pediatric Infectious Diseases & Global Health and General Pediatrics, Vice-Chair, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Department of Pediatrics, and Director Yale Children's Hispanic Clinic (Y-CHiC).