Report: Health care gap is growing along racial, economic lines

Center on Health Disparities calls for collaboration by hospitals, communities and counties

The 113-page report, ‘‘Partnering Toward a Healthier Future,” was released Friday at Washington Adventist Hospital in Takoma Park and followed by a panel discussion with regional health and government leaders.

‘‘We believe collaboration is the only way health disparities will cease to exist,” said William G. ‘‘Bill” Robertson, president and CEO of Adventist HealthCare.

The report showed that one of the factors was the lower the income, the greater the gap in health care while a lack of English has created a barrier to immigrants ‘‘navigating the health care system.”

While 11 percent of whites were uninsured, 19 percent of African Americans, 39 percent of Latinos and 15 percent of Asian Americans were uninsured.

In addition, 8 percent of whites surveyed said they could not afford to see a doctor in the past year, compared to 15 percent of African Americans and 14 percent of Latinos.

Dr. Robert Gold, dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Health, said the gap between those with good health care and those without is growing.

‘‘Our generation may be the first generation of Americans to have a shorter life span than the generation before,” he said.

Del. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, chairwoman of the House minority health disparities subcommittee, said W.E.B. DuBois called the declining quality of health care for African Americans a national disgrace in 1895.

‘‘We haven’t come that far and we still have a lot to do,” said Nathan-Pulliam (D-Dist. 10) of Baltimore, who called the report an important step by Adventist HealthCare.

Frederick County Health Officer Barbara A. Brookmyer said her county has just one hospital, one mobile clinic and no community health centers, which makes it hard to reach communities in need.

Frederick County has a waiting list of 80 pregnant Hispanic women who are receiving no prenatal care, Brookmyer said.

While the desire to close the gap is there among health professionals, it is not always there with the public, she said.

‘‘I don’t see the groundswell of energy — perhaps it’s my delivery issues — toward addressing these inequity issues,” Brookmyer said.

Montgomery County’s health officer, Ulder Tillman, said some people want to deny any health services to immigrants — a view that not only would widen the disparity, but also could create other health problems by leaving people with infectious diseases untreated.

‘‘I’m disturbed by some of the negativity we’re seeing in our country today,” Tillman said.

Nathan-Pulliam said that when she introduced a bill in her committee to assure health care to the uninsured, a Republican colleague kept introducing amendment after amendment to block it.

‘‘All he was thinking of was illegal immigrants,” Nathan-Pulliam said.

The report also linked some of the disparities to cultural differences. For instance, 28 percent of African American men use tobacco, compared to 17 percent of white men.

‘‘The cards are stacked against healthy behavior,” Brookmyer said.

The center’s executive director, Marcos Pesquera, said the study covered the three counties served by Adventist HealthCare, but in the future he would like to broaden studies to cover all of the state.

‘‘Our hope is that the findings in this report will serve as a catalyst for all of us to target interventions in the areas of greatest need,” he said.

Prince George’s County Health Officer Donald Shell said more collaboration is needed from community groups, hospitals and county health departments.

‘‘The health departments alone cannot change behaviors,” Shell said.

He called the report an important step in addressing the problem.

‘‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” Shell said.