Black Directors Health Equity Agenda, a Chicago-based coalition of Black board directors, seeks to address health disparities in public hospitals and community health centers with a $1.5 million grant from Kaiser Permanente.
Announced Sept. 5, the grant from Kaiser Permanente's fund at the East Bay Community Foundation will enable BDHA to create a health equity playbook for healthcare board directors and executive leaders, according to the coalition's news release.
The playbook, drawn from community assessments, strategic framework development and evidence-based action plans, will be shared through collaborative engagements with key leaders at conferences, webinars, roundtable discussions and other educational forums, the release said. Deloitte Consulting will also support the creation of this playbook for public hospitals and community health centers.
"To achieve health equity, we must commit to working together to make sure everyone has access to high-quality care," Ronald Copeland, MD, senior vice president and chief equity, inclusion and diversity officer for Kaiser Permanente, said 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."
The grant will also support BDHEA's Board Diversification and Inclusion Project, an initiative to bolster diversity and inclusion of healthcare boards, according to the release. Ernst & Young will provide support to the project.