(The Center Square) – After medical watchdog Do No Harm filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over what it called Kaiser Permanente’s racially discriminatory “Center for Black Health and Wellness,” the healthcare organization updated the center with a disclaimer that all races are welcome. Do No Harm says it’s not enough.
Do No Harm’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kurt Miceli told The Center Square that “Kaiser’s disclaimer that members of any race or ethnicity may use their ‘Center for Black Health and Wellness’ does not solve the underlying racial discrimination identified in our complaint.”
“A superficial disclaimer resolves very little when the Clinic’s designation, descriptions, and photos depicting clinicians and patients remain unchanged and aimed to invite and prioritize patients on the basis of their race,” Miceli said.
“This attempt to maneuver around the law is both disingenuous and wholly inadequate, and we will continue to urge HHS to reject these unconvincing tactics in accordance with longstanding precedents of equality,” Miceli said.
When reached for comment, Kaiser Permanente, located in Portland, Ore., told The Center Square: “The Center for Black Health and Wellness is open to all Kaiser Permanente members and welcomes and regularly treats patients of every race and ethnicity.”
In March, Do No Harm (DNH) filed a civil rights complaint against Kaiser Permanente for its Center for Black Health and Wellness.
DNH said at the time that Kaiser “uses racial segregation to address purported health disparities” in the Center for Black Health and Wellness and uses methods which are “illegal, immoral, and unfounded,” The Center Square reported.
Sometime between April 22 and the present day, according to DNH media relations, Kaiser updated its webpage for the Center for Black Health and Wellness to include a disclaimer at the top.
The disclaimer states: “Kaiser Permanente members of any race or ethnicity may choose to seek care at the Center for Black Health and Wellness or at any other location they choose.”
Miceli said race-based material still exists in the center, however.
For instance, underneath this disclaimer, the center’s lead physician Dr. Christal Crooks writes that “historical and ongoing gaps in care have contributed to lower screening rates and delayed treatment for many Black patients” in answer to the question “What are some of the barriers to health for Black communities?”
Additionally, Crooks wrote in answer to the question that “addressing those gaps requires consistent access to primary care, clear communication and evidence-based treatment — all of which are core to how we practice at the center.”
“Socioeconomic factors also play a role, making it harder for people to get or prioritize care,” Crooks wrote. “That often leads to untreated conditions becoming serious, long-term health problems.”
Crooks also appears to concur with the idea of racial concordance in medicine – the matching of doctors’ and patients’ races–writing: “I’ve had many patients whose backgrounds I can relate to. I understand, culturally, where they’re coming from.”
HHS has not yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment.
