For the past three years, St. Luke’s Hospital has taken part in a citywide effort by all San Francisco hospitals to improve the health of African Americans in our community, the African American Health Disparity Project (AAHDP).  “Mortality and morbidity rates for African Americans are significantly worse relative to every other major racial and ethnic group in our community,” says Ken Barnes, MD, an internal medicine specialist at St. Luke’s and chair of the hospital’s African American Health Disparity Committee.

Among the committee’s efforts is a Black History Month celebration at the hospital throughout the month of February, including the Arthur Coleman Memorial Dinner. 

“In recognition of Black History Month this year, we have an educational display outside the cafeteria to explain health disparities in the African American community and recognize African American leaders in health care,” says Barnes.  “We also are inviting health-related community organizations in the African American community to staff tables during lunch, educating the hospital staff and the public about their programs and services.”

St. Luke’s also will host the 2^nd annual Arthur Coleman Memorial Dinner on Tuesday, February 28 at 6 PM in the hospital cafeteria.  “Dr. Coleman was an African American physician who practiced in the Bayview-Hunter’s Point area for over 50 years,” Barnes notes.  “He was not only a highly regarded physician who admitted his patients to St. Luke’s, but also a respected leader in the African American community.  We will be having this dinner in his honor, inviting members of the hospital and medical staff, as well as people in the community.”

The dinner will feature guest speakers, including Martin Brotman, MD, President and CEO of California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) and interim President and CEO of St. Luke’s Hospital.  Brotman is one of the founders of the AAHDP and a steadfast advocate of improving health care services for the African American community in San Francisco.  In addition, the hospital will present Arthur Coleman Memorial Awards to three community organizations, recognizing their embodiment of Dr. Coleman’s spirit of service:  

• Black Infant Health Improvement Project – A program intended to increase the survival rate and well-being of African-American infants by offering free, confidential services such as health and infant care classes, individual counseling, transportation assistance for medical appointments, referrals to health and social services and home visits by a community worker.
• Black Coalition on AIDS (BCA) – An organization dedicated to the mission of stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS and eliminating health disparities in the Black community.  BCA provides health and wellness services such as housing, education, patient advocacy, health case management, community activities and free complimentary alternative medicine services such as chiropractic, massage and acupuncture.
• Jelani Inc. – A non-profit organization dedicated to mitigating the effect of substance abuse on families.  The Jelani House offers a six- to nine-month residential program for pregnant women and parenting women. The babies are delivered at St. Luke’s Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital.  Newhall Manor provides a four- to six-month family program for single- and dual-parent families with children, including single fathers.  Mission Recovery House provides residential substance treatment service to women with children up to 12 years old.  Jelani Outpatient Services are available those who need substance abuse treatment and family support, but do not need residential services.

In addition to sponsoring the Black History Month celebration and hosting the Arthur Coleman Memorial Dinner, Barnes notes that the committee at St. Luke’s accomplished several additional goals in 2005, some of which included:

• Expanding the hospital’s committee to 20 members, including the addition of community representative Pat Coleman, the daughter of Arthur Coleman, MD.
• Participating in a citywide Ambassador-Navigator Program that enlists ambassadors from the community to help people get to a hospital or medical office and navigators at the hospital to guide patients through their hospital visit.
• Sending three representatives to attend an anti-racism workshop in Boston sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame, who train institutional transformation teams in skills for dismantling racism and building multicultural diversity within institutions and communities.  The committee hopes to work more closely with the Sisters of Notre Dame to develop a program for employees at St. Luke’s in conjunction with Service Excellence Training.
• Joining the city’s Adopt-a-School program, with plans to adopt a local middle school to provide mentoring services and school presentations regarding health and careers in health care as a means of dealing with violence in the community.
• The selection of Lab Technician Joanette Calvin and Clinical Pharmacist Wayzel Fuller to be the St. Luke’s representatives to citywide steering committee.

For 2006, Barnes says the hospital committee has an expanded set of objectives, including providing a bulletin board outside the hospital cafeteria with information about what the committee is doing, how others might participate and contact information for committee members.  Employees will be encouraged to submit comments and recommendations in a suggestion box or to speak directly to a committee member.

The committee also intends to address issues of cultural competency and diversity awareness, working with St. Luke’s as it becomes integrated into Sutter Health’s Cultural Competence Program.  In addition, the committee hopes to work with the hospital’s Human Resources department to assess the capability of potential employees to work in a culturally diverse organization and to recruit staff and management personnel that reflect St. Luke’s patient population.

For more information about the AAHDP or the St. Luke’s committee, please call Ken Barnes at (415) 550-4710, extension 502.