The Center for Primary Care Innovation and Transformation (PCIT) at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center was recently awarded a $40,000 grant to collaborate with the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) and the California Health Care Safety Net Institute (SNI). The grant will help address structural racism in California’s public health care systems by facilitating the development of system-level anti-racism plans. PCIT will partner with the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Health Equity Steering Committee (HESC) to provide guidance and technical assistance to CAPH/SNI. This grant is supported by the California Health Care Foundation.
Members of the Center for Primary Care Innovation and Transformation and the Health Equity Steering Committee have been instrumental in the creation and execution of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Anti-Racism Action Plan. Founding director of PCIT, co-chair of the plan’s oversight committee, and one of the key architects of the plan, J. Nwando Olayiwola, MD, MPH, FAAFP, serves as the principal investigator for this grant. Candy Magaña, MPA, director of PCIT, and HESC co-chairs Darrell Gray, MD, MPH, and Autumn Glover, MCRP, MPA, serve as co-investigators for the grant. Jná Báez, MBA, associate director of PCIT, will lead the management of the grant.
“I have worked with CAPH/SNI for many years and we are thrilled to share our expertise with CAPH/SNI as they develop their own anti-racism initiative to best meet the needs of their member health care systems,” Dr. Olayiwola said. “This is a critical moment in time to address structural racism, and we are proud to serve as a partner and thought leader.”
The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center team will help design a learning program for CAPH/SNI to implement with its members, California’s public health care systems. The program will help systems to develop their own organizational strategies that embed equity in all aspects of care and help them continue their mission of creating and maintaining equitable organizations and communities within their network. The development of the learning program will take place over the next three months.
“Our members have long been committed to equity and we are excited to work with the leadership at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center,” said Giovanna Giuliani, executive director of SNI. “Their groundbreaking work will help us refine and advance anti-racism efforts among California’s public health care systems.”
About CAPH/SNI
The California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (CAPH) serves as the health policy and advocacy voice for the 21 California public health care systems. The California Health Care Safety Net Institute (SNI) is the 501c3 affiliate of CAPH and supports California’s public health care systems in improving care delivery.
About the Center for Primary Care Innovation and Transformation
The Center for Primary Care Innovation and Transformation in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center focuses on the sustainable optimization of primary care through leveraging technology and other innovations, attaining health equity and eliminating health disparities, and achieving efficiency in primary care delivery, training and education.
About the Health Equity Steering Committee
The Health Equity Steering Committee is a multidisciplinary team of leaders across The Ohio State University enterprise that aims to reduce health disparities among the patients and communities it serves. Its mission is to achieve health and health care equity in central Ohio as a model for statewide change. The committee partners with various stakeholders to provide critical appraisal and thought-leadership through a health equity lens via programming and initiatives for staff, faculty, learners and the community.