Philadelphia: Thousands of medical workers turn out to remember George Floyd and work for health equity

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Philadelphia Inquirer

June 5th, 2020

Quote

Thousands of medical workers turn out to remember George Floyd and work for health equity

Doctors, nurses, and medical students gathered across the Philadelphia region and the country Friday to honor the memory of George Floyd by vowing to ensure racial justice and equity in health care.

Dubbed “White Coats for Black Lives,” the events — at which participants wore not only white coats but also medical scrubs of every color — drew thousands from Penn Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Temple University, the Virtua system in New Jersey, the Jefferson system, and many more.

The hundreds of health professionals massed at the heart of Thomas Jefferson University on Friday afternoon voiced a truth often unspoken: The outcomes of systemic racism appear in hospitals every day in black patients who fare worse than white ones when being treated for diabetes, cancer, hypertension, and a host of other illnesses....

...Another problem for black patients is rarely seeing physicians who look like them. One Jefferson medical school student noted she was one of four black students — all women — in a class of 270...

...Jefferson’s president and chief executive, Stephen Klasko, agreed Thursday night after hearing from students and residents that the hospital system would introduce workshops centered on biases and microaggressions, bolster ways to report instances of bias, establish a committee of African American affairs, and commit to establishing a social justice program....

https://www.inquirer.com/health/doctors-residents-white-coats-black-lives-philadelphia-demonstration-protest-20200605.html