Disrupting Healthcare Equity: An interview by Karla Jo Helms

The most recent U.S. Census data shows that people of color, which includes African-Americans, Asians, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and Hispanic or Latino people, comprise nearly 40% of the United States population.(1) Yet access to healthcare and systemic bias put these populaces at higher risk for poor and even fatal healthcare outcomes. African-American infants have a mortality rate of nearly 2.5 times higher than white infants. Young Hispanic and African-American youth have a greater chance of death from diabetes.(2) One hundred years of studies point to healthcare disparities having real and often tragic consequences—but, enter healthcare “Equalizer” Dr. Maria Hernandez, President and COO of Impact4Health, who elaborates to Karla Jo Helms, host of the Disruption Interruption podcast that the pandemic only recently made it impossible to deny the huge disparities in health outcomes.