By Mackenna Moralez

A growing number of hospitals and other healthcare facilities are prioritizing their diversity and inclusion efforts in order to better provide patient care and retain staff. Despite these attempts, there has been a rise in biases complaints from both patients and staff. The lack of resources that hospitals have because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain shortages could impede access to healthcare for patients and limit trajectories for staff. 

Several existing laws protect individuals with disabilities and people of color. These laws include Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibit discrimination based on disability. These laws still apply during any public health emergency, and it is essential that facility managers in hospitals and other healthcare facilities continue to adhere to them.  

“Individuals with disabilities may not be denied an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from healthcare programs and services,” according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “During the COVID-19 public health emergency, a provider may not refuse to admit for COVID-19 treatment a patient with a disability who may require more services or resources than other patients with COVID-19, as such a denial would prevent the patient with a disability from having an opportunity to benefit from care that is equal to the opportunity provided to others, on the basis of a disability.” 

Meanwhile, racism has been labeled as a public health crisis. A report by Health Affairs found that structural racism has been found in the United States healthcare sector. As previously reported by Healthcare Facilities Today, 63 percent of nurses have experienced racism in the workplace, with transgressors being a peer (66 percent), a patient (63 percent) or a manager/supervisor (60 percent). Meanwhile, 57 percent of respondents of a report by the American Nurses Association say they challenged racism within the workplace, but only one-half of those respondents saw results from speaking out. In addition, one-half of respondents said these encounters have impacted their professional wellbeing. 

Black women make up 6.9 percent of the U.S. workforce and 13.7 percent of the healthcare workforce, according to the Health Affairs report. But the positions that are commonly held are the lowest paid and most hazardous. It is recommended that hospitals and other healthcare facilities increase wages for lower paying jobs and ensure opportunities that will allow employees to advance. The Health Affairs report also recommends that the topic of racism is regularly discussed.  

“Care work is a critical arena in which Black women are located at the intersection of racism and sexism,” according to the report. “Black women are overrepresented in health care at higher rates than any other group and are heavily concentrated in low-wage jobs in the long-term care sector and in hospitals. Investing in Black women through targeted investment in care infrastructure can begin to undermine some of the ideological constructions and structural barriers that have devalued both.” 

Mackenna Moralez is assistant editor with Healthcare Facilities Today.