City Of Louisville: Mayor Fischer, Louisville Healthcare Leaders Reflect On COVID-19 Pandemic Racial Equity Efforts

Louisville KY

01 February, 2022

5:23 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Louisville: February 01, 2022 Call the LOU HEALTH helpline 502-912-8598.  Look for this logo in the lower right corner on every page and click it. Mayor Greg Fischer was joined by Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage,  associate medical director at Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness (LMPHW), Dr. Edward Miller, chief diversity officer at UofL Health, Dr. Steven Patton, community medical director with the Institute for Health Equity, a part of Norton Healthcare, and Delanor Manson, CEO of the Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA), to provide an update on COVID-19 and discuss racial equity and health in observance of Black History Month. Mayor Greg Fischer was joined by Dr. SarahBeth Hartlage, "Even before the pandemic arrived in Louisville, our city has long worked to understand the tragedy of racial health disparities," Mayor Fischer said. "So, we went into the fight against COVID-19 with high awareness of the issue and knowing that the difference in life expectancy for Louisvillians who live near Shawnee Park in the west part of town is about 12 years fewer than Louisvillians who live by Tom Sawyer Park." "Even before the pandemic arrived in Louisville, our city has long worked to understand the tragedy of racial health disparities," Mayor Fischer said. "So, we went into the fight against COVID-19 with high awareness of the issue and knowing that the difference in life expectancy for Louisvillians who live near Shawnee Park in the west part of town is about 12 years fewer than Louisvillians who live by Tom Sawyer Park." The Mayor said building racial equity requires intentionality and emphasized that Louisville leaders and healthcare workers have been intentional with their efforts throughout the pandemic. The Mayor said building racial equity requires intentionality and emphasized that Louisville leaders and healthcare workers have been intentional with their efforts throughout the pandemic. "As vaccinations became more widely available early last year, we created a diverse vaccine distribution task force to coordinate and facilitate the implementation, communication, administration and reporting vaccinations in the city with a focus on equity," he said. "In other words, putting vaccines where they were most needed in the community, to those that were the highest at risk." The Kentucky Nurses Association is one of the organizations that has helped the city and LMPHW administer COVID-19 vaccines and tests throughout the pandemic. Manson is also a member of the vaccine distribution task force. "The idea of, how are we going to get the vaccines and make them available to people who don't have transportation, people who don't trust health care providers that don't look like them? How do we do that? That was always part of the agenda," Manson said. "That task force has been, I think, the lifeblood of getting the vaccines and testing out to the communities that we serve." Jefferson County's healthcare systems have also played a vital role throughout the pandemic when it comes to health equity. UofL Health administered vaccinations to medically underserved areas with the help of churches, community centers and JCPS. "I think we partnered with over 60 churches in the community. We vaccinated tens of thousands of individuals, and most importantly, we went back to basics. We brought our facilities, we brought our people to the community that needed it, as opposed to vice versa," Dr. Miller said. "There were so many people that were on the fence about getting vaccinated and literally because they saw their doctors, their nurses in front of them, they chose to become vaccinated." Dr. Patton also discussed several ways Norton Healthcare has strived to get health care to underserved communities. "In late 2019, we opened a primary care office at the YMCA on 18th and Broadway and this has really been a central hub for vaccinations, educating people and screening tests," Dr. Patton said. "This could not have been done without the people in the community and the leaders and organizations that are well-trusted in the community." While Mayor Fischer and Louisville healthcare leaders recognized great progress has been made when it comes to closing the gap in health disparities, they said the city still has a long way to go. "We have so many health care disparities with pre-term birth, cancer rates in populations, hypertension, diabetes," Dr. Miller said. "I think what we have to learn is if we don't put that same emphasis on solving those barriers as we did with COVID, we're not doing what we need to do to stop those disparities." Here are the key COVID-19 data metrics for Feb. 1, 2022: Here are the key COVID-19 data metrics for Feb. 1, 2022: Hospitalization data: Hospitalization data: Vaccines: Vaccines: Dr. Hartlage said although the data appears to show the worse of the omicron wave is likely behind us, people are still being impacted.   "You can see there are nearly 500 people hospitalized with COVID-19, and of course, the families of those 39 individuals who passed away last week are forever impacted as well," she said. Dr. Hartlage also highlighted the following national COVID-19 related news: Novavax requests FDA authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine View this week's COVID-19 briefing with public health officials here. # # #   The city's COVID-19 data dashboard, a complete list of COVID-19 testing sites, vaccine information, prevention and more can be found at www.louisville.gov/covid19. The LOU HEALTH COVID19 Helpline is also available: 502-912-8598. www.louisville.gov/covid19 Enter required fields How do you want to be reminded? (Street Sweeping requires at least an email) Reminders are sent on the Sunday before and the Friday of your Junk Set Out date. * is required. By subscribing to this reminder service you agree to the Terms of Use. To unsubscribe go to Gov Delivery. Enter your address and MyLouisville will find nearby city services in the following categories: Find your garbage, recycling, yard waste and large-item set-out dates. Sign up for large-item set out and street sweeping reminders by email and text! No form has been selected. Popular Pages Popular Tools This press release was produced by the City of Louisville. The views expressed here are the author's own.