Seeking Solutions to Disparities in Healthcare

Los Angeles might be one of the U.S. cities that best typifies disparities in healthcare. While on one side of town, you have King-Harbor Hospital being shut down, on the other side of town you have Cedars-Sinai serving the rich and famous.

So it's heartening to find out that the federal government is taking steps -- or at least trying to give the appearance of taking steps -- to find out more about these major gaps in care that lead to low-income individuals and individuals from minority communities getting sicker, and even dying, from what their wealthier neighbors survive.

Beginning now and running through December, the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will seek, through conversations in underserved communities throughout the country, to gain some insight into these disparities and to begin to understand what can be done.

Now through mid-October, a series of ''local conversations'' will take place...as part of a national effort to determine the barriers to health-care equality for blacks, as well as Asian-Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. - Akron Beacon Journal

Here's hoping that this information is put to good use.

Photo by brykmantra via Flickr