Commission Calls On Health Leaders to Increase Minorities In the Health Professions.

Declining numbers of minorities becoming physicians, dentists and nurses over the past ten years has prompted a blue ribbon Commission to call on leaders of the nation’s preeminent health associations to work to increase the number of underrepresented minorities admitted to medical, dental and nursing schools, at a hearing today in Chicago.

“This Commission is asking health leaders to utilize the full weight of their leadership and influence to curb the underrepresentation of certain ethnic and racial minorities in our healthcare workforce,” said Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., chair of the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce, and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. “Failing to act results in life and death decisions and this increase is just a start of what we need to do.”

From cancer, heart disease and HIV/AIDS to diabetes and mental health, African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians tend to receive less and lower quality healthcare than whites, resulting in higher mortality rates. More and more health services research studies are pointing to the serious consequences of racial and ethnic health disparities. According to last week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers have found that black, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native children were more likely to die from leukemia than whites because minority children are far less
likely to get the same aggressive treatment as white children.

“Racial minorities — especially Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians – are overrepresented when it comes to disease and illness, butunderrepresented in the healing professions such as nurses, dentists and doctors. Both dimensions — health and healing — must change for the better soon. Increasing diversity in the healing professions is one way to bring
about that change. The Sullivan Commission is pointing the way to close these gaps in the health care professions,” Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-Il), said at the hearing.

Sullivan issued the challenge to presidents and presidents-elect of seven national health organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Dental Association, and American Nurses Association. Other health
professional associations, as well as national health policymakers including Rep. Donna Christian-Christensen (D-V.I.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and Dr. John Ruffin, Director of the National Center
for Minority Health and Health Disparities at the National Institutes of Health are also testifying at the hearing, held at the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

While African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American Indians represent more than 25 percent of the U.S. population, they comprise less than 9 percent of nurses, 6 percent of physicians, and only 5 percent of dentists.

Even with a doubling of minorities admitted to medicine, dentistry and nursing, much work needs to be done to achieve full equity in the health professions. The Commission will present other plans to fully diversify our healthcare workforce in a final report to be released in April 2004.