The Black Directors Health Equity Agenda (BDHEA), a nonprofit committed to promoting equitable access to health care, received a three-year, $1.5 million grant to boost diversity on health care boards across the country, according to a BDHEA news release.

 

Awarded by Kaiser Permanente, the grant will support BDHEA’s Board Diversification and Inclusion Project, which seeks to bring together board directors, senior executives and educators to address health care disparities impacting Black Americans.

 

“Our duty as health care board members extends beyond oversight; it’s a commitment to the heart of care,” said BDHEA board chair Caretha Coleman in the release. “This grant empowers our shepherds of health equity to forge a path toward justice, ensuring that those facing the harshest conditions and barriers find high-quality, equitable care.”

 

An estimated 31.5 million people rely on community health centers for affordable care, according to BDHEA. BDHEA will use the grant to expand its foundational health equity tool kit, which includes “Prioritizing Health Equity in the Boardroom Playbook” and “Health Equity’s Essential Role in ESG Conversations,” two guides designed for board directors developed by BDHEA and Deloitte Consulting LLP.

 

The grant will fund community assessments, action plans and strategic framework development at public hospitals and community health centers as well as support the Board Diversification and Inclusion Project’s goal of increasing, enlisting and engaging Black corporate directors within community health centers to combat discrimination and build trust between the Black community and health care organizations.

 

The playbook will be presented to critical leaders at conferences, webinars, roundtable discussions and more.

 

“To achieve health equity, we must commit to working together to make sure everyone has access to high-quality care,” said Ronald Copeland, MD, FACS, senior vice president and chief equity, inclusion and diversity officer for Kaiser Permanente, in the release. “Through BDHEA’s efforts, we hope to strengthen and empower community health centers and nonprofit hospitals to reduce, if not eliminate, all preventable and unjust health disparities, with trustees who are steadfast advocates for their communities.”

 

To read more, click #Health Equity. There, you’ll find headlines such as “Kaiser Permanente Prioritizes Latino and Black Health,” “‘I Feel Dismissed’: People Experiencing Colorism Say Health System Fails Them” and “The Politics Holding Back Medicaid Expansion in Some Southern States.”