Dear Colleagues,
As the COVID-19 pandemic upends all of our worlds and continues to take its extraordinary toll on human life, our community and our nation face the shocking pain of yet another senseless killing of a Black person by the police. While we are witnessing the ravages caused by COVID-19, especially in African American and other disenfranchised communities, we continue to experience the compounding effects of systemic racism that prompted the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and now George Floyd. At a time when people are desperately seeking a vaccine to allow them to shed their “protective face masks” and return to a semblance of normalcy, unfortunately African Americans continue to confront the “normal” mistreatment that has given rise to the slogan or urgent cry: “Black Lives Matter.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic upends all of our worlds and continues to take its extraordinary toll on human life, our community and our nation face the shocking pain of yet another senseless killing of a Black person by the police. While we are witnessing the ravages caused by COVID-19, especially in African American and other disenfranchised communities, we continue to experience the compounding effects of systemic racism that prompted the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and now George Floyd. At a time when people are desperately seeking a vaccine to allow them to shed their “protective face masks” and return to a semblance of normalcy, unfortunately African Americans continue to confront the “normal” mistreatment that has given rise to the slogan or urgent cry: “Black Lives Matter.”
Nevertheless, these unprecedented crises call for enlightened and innovative leadership, inspired intervention, and compassionate service from all of us in academic medicine.
We must work arduously to accelerate the elimination of the unacceptable inequities that pervade our health care system, and our world at large. As the COVID-19 pandemic has painfully illustrated, these inequities, fostered by our society’s racism, keep African Americans and other underprivileged groups from receiving the highest quality, easily accessible care every human being deserves. The result is higher rates of coronavirus infection and death among people of color.
A seminal report from the Institute of Medicine previously showed that even after adjusting for education and economic status, unequal treatment due to racial prejudice underlies health disparities. Correcting these injustices is among the most important missions of the Miller School of Medicine and the University of Miami Health System. We continue to increase the diversity of our student body, rising to the top ranks nationally, to help ensure the development of a culturally competent and diverse work force to meet the health needs of our nation. Our research and public health initiatives tackling health disparities are making important progress.
As a medical school that is training and inspiring the caregivers and medical leaders of tomorrow, and a health system that is working to care for our entire community, we have a fundamental responsibility to create a more just and inclusive environment for everyone. I am grateful for your commitment and partnership as we strive to achieve these goals together.
I am here to serve and support you during this painful and stressful period in any way I can. And I look forward to continuing to work tirelessly with you to create a world of greater health, knowledge, enlightenment, and justice.
Thank you,
Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A.
Dean and Chief Academic Officer
We must work arduously to accelerate the elimination of the unacceptable inequities that pervade our health care system, and our world at large. As the COVID-19 pandemic has painfully illustrated, these inequities, fostered by our society’s racism, keep African Americans and other underprivileged groups from receiving the highest quality, easily accessible care every human being deserves. The result is higher rates of coronavirus infection and death among people of color.
A seminal report from the Institute of Medicine previously showed that even after adjusting for education and economic status, unequal treatment due to racial prejudice underlies health disparities. Correcting these injustices is among the most important missions of the Miller School of Medicine and the University of Miami Health System. We continue to increase the diversity of our student body, rising to the top ranks nationally, to help ensure the development of a culturally competent and diverse work force to meet the health needs of our nation. Our research and public health initiatives tackling health disparities are making important progress.
As a medical school that is training and inspiring the caregivers and medical leaders of tomorrow, and a health system that is working to care for our entire community, we have a fundamental responsibility to create a more just and inclusive environment for everyone. I am grateful for your commitment and partnership as we strive to achieve these goals together.
I am here to serve and support you during this painful and stressful period in any way I can. And I look forward to continuing to work tirelessly with you to create a world of greater health, knowledge, enlightenment, and justice.
Thank you,
Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A.
Dean and Chief Academic Officer