Partners HealthCare collaborates with
The Bay State Banner on a new program aimed at eliminating racial
and ethnic disparities in health care
ROXBURY — September 12, 2006 — Boston Mayor Thomas M.
Menino joined Bay State Banner executives, health care and community
leaders to unveil a new program aimed at ending racial and ethnic
disparities in health. The program is called Be Healthy and is produced
in collaboration with the Boston Public Health Commission, Partners
HealthCare, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General
Hospital and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Be Healthy is a year-long print and on-line campaign that will provide
monthly information on a variety of health topics that are linked
with racial disparities in health including: men’s health, cardiovascular
disease, women’s cancers, asthma, stroke and other preventable
diseases. Be Healthy includes information on prevention, community
screenings, Q&A with physicians and other information and advice
designed to improve the health of Boston residents.
Under the leadership of Publisher and Editor Melvin Miller and Executive
Editor Howard Manly, the 40-year-old The Bay State Banner is a weekly
publication with a primarily African American readership. The first
Be Healthy appears in the September 14 edition of The Bay State Banner
and will focus on men’s health, including information on the
importance of good primary care, prostate health, preventing heart
disease and upcoming health screenings. For black men in Boston, the
death rate from prostate cancer is more than twice the rate for white
men.
Be Healthy was conceived by The Bay State Banner in response to a
2005 report by the Boston Public Health Commission that revealed that
Boston’s racial and ethnic groups, which make up more than half
of the city’s population, have strikingly different risks of
illness than whites and higher mortality rates from cancer, heart
disease, diabetes, and other diseases. Black Bostonians have worse
health than all other residents on pre-term birth, overweight, diabetes,
hypertension, heart disease, hospitalization rates, cancer mortality
and premature death from a variety of conditions.
Mayor Menino is the nation’s first mayor to make the elimination
of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care a major
policy initiative of his administration. Last year, the Mayor’s
Disparities Task Force released a comprehensive blueprint and $1 million
in support of programs aimed at eliminating disparities in health
and health care.
“The goal of Be Healthy is to let our readers know that by being
informed, active participants in their own health care, they can live
healthier lives and reduce the risks of disease that are all too common
in our community,” Melvin Miller said.
“This is exactly what I'd hoped for when we began the Disparities
Project — that highly influential community organizations like
The Bay State Banner would join forces with Boston’s extraordinary
healthcare community and use their talent and influence to help
Bostonians of color get access to health information and health care,”
Mayor Menino said. “This is a great example of the good that
can come when institutions galvanize around an important issue to
form new partnerships. What the Banner, these hospitals, and this
insurer can do on their own to eliminate health disparities is great,
but what they can do together is much greater,” the Mayor added.
“Be Healthy is another important step in our city-wide efforts
to ensure that every Bostonian, regardless of race or ethnicity, will
have equal access to quality health care and enjoy an equal chance
at good health and overcoming the diseases that affect our families
and friends: cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and asthma,” said
James J. Mongan, M.D., President and CEO of Partners HealthCare. Partners
and its founding hospitals, Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts
General Hospital are providing financial support and clinical advice
for Be Healthy. “For the past 40 years, the Banner has been
a fearless and credible advocate for the interests and needs of African
American residents. Partners HealthCare and our founding hospitals
are delighted and honored to collaborate with the paper on this important
project,” said Dr. Mongan.
“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is pleased to collaborate
with The Bay State Banner and Partners HealthCare on this important
effort to eliminate racial disparities in health care,” said
Peter Meade, Executive Vice President of Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Massachusetts. “The articles in Be Healthy will give patients
access to information that enables them to make better choices about
their care. BCBSMA believes that armed with more — and better
— information, readers can work with their doctors to improve
their health and the health of their families. That’s why BCBSMA
offers diverse cultural training to the doctors who care for our members,
provides on-line tools that compare care at various hospitals and
delivers member services assistance in multiple languages.”
For more information, see The Bay
State Banner’s website
or The
Be Healthy website.
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