Advocate Aurora Health Joins 38 Health Systems in Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis

The declaration, published by the national Healthcare Anchor Network, follows a similar public statement in June by Chicago-area health care organizations.

Advocate Aurora Health is proud to publicly reiterate our commitment to dismantling structural racism and reversing its negative effects on the health and well being of our communities.

As a member of the Healthcare Anchor Network, a national collaboration of leading health care systems, we join 38 other health institutions across 45 states and Washington, D.C. in formally recognizing racism as a public health crisis. This reflects a national amplification of a similar statement and call to action that we issued in June alongside three dozen of our Chicago-area health system peers.

In doing so, we acknowledge the unconscionable toll racism has exacted on communities of color, from increased joblessness and higher rates of preventable disease to lower life expectancy, and we commit to taking specific actions to ameliorate this injustice.

We will continue to:

• hire and develop clinicians and team members who reflect and effectively treat the unique needs of each population we serve;
• hire people of color and other diverse backgrounds for leadership positions;
• lower turnover rates for people of color;
• increase investment in local certified minority- and women-owned businesses;
• and combat health disparities in the communities we serve.

“As the largest health care provider in Illinois and Wisconsin, we must do better,” said Cristy Garcia-Thomas, Advocate Aurora Health’s chief external affairs officer. “By relying on our core values of excellence compassion and respect, we pledge to build more just and inclusive communities in which everyone has the opportunity to live well.”

Read the full Healthcare Anchor Network statement here.