When editorial and communications leaders at Boston Medical Center (BMC) launched HealthCity in spring 2019, the goal was to create a thought-leadership platform that could share ideas on how BMC was working to build a more equitable and sustainable health system. Never could anyone have imagined the world HealthCity would be publishing in just one year later.
With the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, sharing innovations and ideas from trusted health experts became vital. HealthCity rapidly increased its publishing schedule, and BMC experts and partners discussed models for operations and hospital support services during the pandemic; icalled attention to challenges for patients living with chronic illness and/or substance use disorder amid social distancing and limited access to health services; and highlighted the many ways nurses are indispensable not only during a public health crisis, but every single day. When COVID-19 vaccines were being developed and eventually rolled out to the public, HealthCity showcased infectious disease experts to talk about patients’ safety concerns, the benefits of vaccination, how the vaccines work, and strategies to deliver these vaccines to patients.
It very quickly became clear in the pandemic that Black and Latino/a Americans were being disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Aligned with BMC’s commitment to its community and health equity stewardship, HealthCity became part of a strategic campaign to help raise the alarm and build trust in vaccination in some of our most underserved communities.
Parallel to this global pandemic, the U.S. was facing a reckoning as the Black Lives Matter movement called to the forefront a long history of systemic racism, in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others. HealthCity served as a platform for BMC staff to discuss healthcare’s role in this movement, specifically with the story “Health Equity Starts with Racial Equity.”
The changing role of HealthCity
During this time, we HealthCity editors knew that health equity must become the central theme and focus of our work. However, the time for merely pointing out the vast and numerous inequities people of color face in systems across the country has passed. The research and data are well documented and understood, particularly among pioneers at BMC. Now, alongside our BMC clinicians, researchers, and other staff, we aim to push actions that will close those gaps. As Elena Mendez Escobar, PhD, MBA, co-executive director of our Health Equity Accelerator, said at EQTY 2023: A Summit for Health Justice, “This is health equity 2.0.”
We see a huge opportunity — and imperative — for sharing stories of innovations, initiatives, programs, and advances that are aimed specifically at advancing health justice.
While we are proudly hosted and supported by BMC, we aim to write through a lens beyond just one hospital or health system. Instead, we want to feature community leaders, activists, partners, and health equity pioneers across the state and even the country. Our hope is that we can share ideas that will help transform healthcare to be more effective, equitable, and accessible for all.
To celebrate our five-year anniversary, we are launching a new look and feel to the website, which we hope we help all readers find engaging topics and stories more easily.
We want to thank all our readers, our thought-leaders BMC at beyond who contribute their voices and expertise, and our writers who bring our stories to life.
We’re so excited to share these changes with you all, and we’re looking forward to continuing to advance our work here at HealthCity with engaging, thoughtful discussions about what’s coming next in health justice.
