Statement of Solidarity and the Future of Primary Healthcare 

The recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery are the latest in a long line of the killing of black people involving police in our nation’s history. This violence is the direct result of racism, discrimination and structural inequities that exist in our society, in our city, our neighborhoods and at our institutions. Being among those who devote our lives to healthcare and the betterment for health of all peoples, we recognize that racism is a disease and a public health crisis and that racism has led to the disproportionate suffering and death among those in our black, brown, yellow and marginalized communities.

The Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care was established 10 years ago with the commitment to uncover, promote, and fight for the best and most efficient ways to deliver high-quality primary healthcare for all. We recognize that in order to move forward and realize our mission, we need to directly address racism, discrimination and structural inequities in everything that we do, within the Center for Primary Care, and in our programming, education, research, systems transformation and innovation efforts, in our communities here in Boston and around the world. Equity and justice must be the foundation on which we build both the future of the Center and the future of primary healthcare. Coincidentally, the Center leadership team recently launched a strategic planning process, including a retreat that took place over the course of this week . The retreat provided us a chance to actively reflect on individual roles and responsibilities, as well as those of the Center in the context of today. We acknowledge that we are learning how to talk about, frame and address these very complicated issues, to which each of us bring a different lived experience.

We understand that this is a very difficult time for all of us as we witness the brutality of racism again, as well as the lack of compassion and understanding shown by our national leadership. As we struggle to respond in a meaningful way, the Center’s leadership team is committed to directly address racism, discrimination and structural inequities in our endeavors to fulfill our commitment to uncover, promote, and fight for the best and most efficient ways to deliver high-quality primary healthcare in our communities in Boston and around the world.

These unprecedented times call for all of us to stand together with all those who are oppressed by racism—that is the definition of solidarity. Please share with us your opinion (below) so that we can better position primary healthcare to help all people. 


Sincerely,

Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care Leadership
Paola Abello | David Duong | Erin Farren | Russ Phillips | Erin Sullivan

 

We want to hear from you. Please contribute to this important work by sharing your opinion: