To the Oregon Legislature:

We, the undersigned health professionals and public health advocates, urge you to support HB 4052 which would address racism as a public health crisis and take evidence-based steps to improve health outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in our state. Following the passage of House Resolution (HR) 6 in 2021, which declared racism as a public health crisis in Oregon, we must now take action through passage of HB 4052 to begin to address both the immediate need to reduce racial and ethnic health inequities, as well as creating a pathway for future strategies to address structural racism in the future.

Through our own experiences in clinical settings and in our communities, we recognize an urgent need to follow the community-led efforts of BIPOC advocates to address the harms that racism has caused to the health of Oregonians. We urge Oregon legislators to adopt HB 4052 to begin to address the health disparities engendered by the long history of systemic racism in our state. We support the following strategies outlined in the bill:

- Remove barriers to increase access and quality of care in BIPOC communities. Histories of discrimination have negatively influenced the health outcomes of BIPOC individuals and their likelihood to seek out healthcare.1,2  Through a pilot mobile health program, Oregon will be able to increase the accessibility of healthcare for underserved communities. Current research shows the efficacy of mobile health units, highlighting their successful and cost-effective model for improving health outcomes in BIPOC communities.3,4

- Meaningfully invest in community engagement to identify future strategies. As health professionals and public health advocates, we acknowledge that the lived experiences of racism can cause adverse mental and physical health outcomes.5  The knowledge of BIPOC communities is essential to generate health equity strategies that prioritize these communities' needs.

- Develop recommendations to fund culturally specific programs. Establish a funding strategy to support intervention programs designed to prevent health conditions that result in inequitable outcomes for BIPOC communities.

LC 238 is a vital step toward correcting grave health inequities due to the corrosive effects of racism. We urge you to support its passage.

Sincerely,
[Add your name below]

References

1.     Gonzales, K. L., Harding, A. K., Lambert, W. E., Fu, R., & Henderson, W. G. (2013). Perceived experiences of discrimination in health care: a barrier for cancer screening among American Indian women with type 2 diabetes. Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health, 23(1), e61–e67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2012.10.00
2.      Gonzales, K. L., Noonan, C., Goins, R. T., Henderson, W. G., Beals, J., Manson, S. M., Acton, K. J., & Roubideaux, Y. (2016). Assessing the Everyday Discrimination Scale among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Psychological assessment, 28(1), 51–58. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0039337
3. Attipoe-Dorcoo, S., Delgado, R., Gupta, A., Bennet, J., Oriol, N. E., & Jain, S. H. (2020). Mobile Health Clinic Model in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned and Opportunities for Policy Changes and Innovation. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1), 73. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01175-7   
4. Yu, S., Hill, C., Ricks, M. L., Bennet, J., & Oriol, N. E. (2017). The Scope and Impact of Mobile Health Clinics in the United States: A Literature Review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16(1), 178. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0671-2 
5. Williams, D. R., Lawrence, J. A., & Davis, B. A. (2019). Racism and Health: Evidence and Needed Research. Annual review of public health, 40, 105–125. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043750