Skip to contents
In This Issue:
BRIGHAM and Women's and Faulkner hospitals are launching a renewed and focused drive to combat inequities in health care in and around Boston this year. Following last year's findings from the Mayor's Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in health care, BW/F Community Health and Health Care Equity Strategic Planning Committee is forming an action plan. In coming weeks, this committee is sending surveys to approximately 1,000 care providers at Faulkner, BWH and community health centers in order to gain their valuable insight and assess their awareness of the hospital's community health mission, programs and activities. Also, care providers will be surveyed to share their perspective on cultural competencies and disparities in care. "All responses will be confidential and will be analyzed and shared only in the aggregate to help us formulate our strategic plan," said JudyAnn Bigby, MD, director of Community Health Programs in the Office for Women, Family and Community Programs. Bigby is leading the strategic planning process. "This information will help us address disparities in care and improve access and the delivery of care across our system." The surveys will be sent electronically to nurses, physicians, social workers, and other care providers and frontline staff at BWH, Faulkner, Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center, Brookside Community Health Center and other locales. It will take about 10 minutes to complete the survey. In addition to surveying staff, the BW/F Community Health and Health Care Equity Strategic Planning Committee has been interviewing staff and patients, and next month, the committee holds several focus groups with patients. This spring, the committee will finalize its strategic plan for how BW/F can reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care. "These surveys will provide us with first-hand assessments from where we provide our care, arming the BW/F Community Health and Health Care Equity Strategic Planning Committee with a solid foundation to build on," said BWH President and CEO Gary Gottlieb. "Improving health care for everyone is fundamental to our mission, and there is much room for improving health in our own neighborhoods."