Diary of Systemic Injustice – Bias in Health Care

Samantha Kilbane

COMPSTD 1100

October 24, 2020

Diary of Systemic Injustices Showcase

One evening at work, I was preparing the hospital room for a new admission that was coming into the ICU with difficulty breathing as he had just received a positive COVID test. The patient quickly arrived on the unit and nurses and doctors swarmed around him to get him settled into his bed, attach him to the monitors, and give him medications. The patient took one look around the room, swung his arms around out to the sides and proclaimed, “where are all of the people who look like me?! I need a doctor who looks like me”.

This moment happened weeks ago, yet still invades my thoughts almost everyday. This African American patient was scared to receive care from providers who were all white. This patient was extremely sick, and in this moment of being in the hospital surrounded by white people, felt he needed someone of the same skin color in order to provide him the care that he needed.

This experience reminds me everyday that racism is a public health crisis. This patient was afraid of experiencing racism, and afraid that the racism was going to cost him his life. This systemic injustice is so prevalent in the United States and is supported by numerous statistics. According to the Center for American Progress, African Americans have higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease than any other group of people. This startling statistic is evidence behind the ever prevalent systemic injustice in health care. People of color, including African Americans and Latinos, often have increased rates of morbidity and mortality due to the racial bias that exists among various health care workers. Although this may not be intentional, bias still exists and it is impacting the health of Americans.

In order for this injustice to be eradicated at the systemic level, a change in the medical system as a whole is necessary. As a health care worker myself, I recognize the importance of truly recognizing your own biases, and correcting these false and inappropriate thoughts. All medical decisions should be made based on science and evidence that leads to best practice.

If an American cannot receive the necessary medical care they need, they are forced into the role of the subaltern. The everyday, lay person cannot be expected to diagnose and treat themselves, this is why the medical system exists. But if the medical system cannot be trusted to accurately and properly treat every person of every descent that is seeking medical care, then every American is not equal. These individuals are forced into the role of the subaltern because they have no voice above the medical professionals, who are supposed to be the experts in the situation. The patient in the scenario above was trying to eliminate himself being defined as the subaltern, by raising his voice and verifying he was receiving the care he needed.

Carrata, Sofia, and Connor Maxwell. “Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity.” Center for American Progress, 7 May 2020, www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2020/05/07/484742/health-disparities-race-ethnicity/