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"Imagine a group of people of different heights, ages, and abilities standing behind a tall fence. Equality is giving everyone the same size box to help them see over the fence. Equity is giving each person what they need to see over the fence — a shorter person may need two boxes, whereas a taller person may need no boxes. Our goal is to go beyond this and remove the fence altogether."
- Elena Mendez-Escobar, co-executive director of the Health Equity Accelerator

Did you know? In Boston...

Black residents have a 4.1 time higher rate of infant mortality? Black residents are 1.5 times more likely to die from premature cancer? Hispanic residents are 2.2 times more likely to get infected with covid 19?

The Health Equity Accelerator at Boston Medical Center is working to transform healthcare to eliminate gaps in life expectancy and quality of life among different races and ethnicities. We've started working in five clinical areas where we see major disparities.

Pregnancy

Cancer

Infectious Diseases

Chronic Conditions

Behavioral Health

See what we've achieved

Hear from our many expert team members and partners how we are advancing our mission of health justice in crucial clinical areas, including our Equity in Pregnancy and Equity in Diabetes initiatives. Learn how we are thinking beyond hospital to fuel economic mobility in disinvested communities and particularly for people of color.

Help us reach our goal

Our goal is that by 2035 we will have made a demonstrable impact on racial health equity and built a model that other healthcare institutions can replicate to advance health equity across the U.S. Help support us by amplifying our message and staying connected to the health equity work we do.

Partner with us

Get in touch with our team about how you could partner in our mission to achieve racial health equity.

Contact Now

Spread awareness

Spread the word about the Accelerator and our mission in your networks.

Our inaugural summit EQTY 2023 was a success!

In September we hosted medical and community leaders across the healthcare landscape at EQTY 2023: A Summit for Health Justice, where they convened to showcase innovations, share their expertise, and inspire the future of health equity.

Read HealthCity's coverage of EQTY 2023, direct from the conference's floor.

Thea James, MD, MBA

Thea James, MD, MBA

Executive Director of the Health Equity Accelerator and Vice President of Mission & Associate Chief Medical Officer

Elena Mendez-Escobar, PhD, MBA

Executive Director of Strategy and the Health Equity Accelerator

Sponsors

Boston Medical Center’s Health Equity Accelerator was made possible through seed funding from two of our longstanding and dedicated corporate supporters: John Hancock and the MassMutual Foundation.

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