Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health has committed to taking concrete action and addressing the impact of structural racism along with 38 other healthcare systems in the United States.

D-HH is a member of the Healthcare Anchor Network, a national collaboration of healthcare systems, which has released a “Racism is a Public Health Crisis” statement. Collectively the organizations employ more than a half-million employees across 45 states and the District of Columbia.

D-HH said that, after the deaths of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others, as well as the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on communities of color, it formed the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Task Force, led by Sue Mooney, CEO of Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital.

The task force is working to understand the current efforts across the D-HH system to increase diversity, inclusion and equity and to provide a space for employees to share their stories anonymously, the organization said.

In addition, it said, the D-HH population health team has worked with other health systems to understand how business practices can be leveraged to improve economic well-being in communities. Often referred to as “anchor institutions,” such health systems can improve the socioeconomic conditions that ultimately impact health by using hiring, purchasing and investment decisions to improve the economic vitality of communities and eliminate socially driven health disparities, including those which are rooted in racism and other forms of discrimination, D-HH said.

For D-HH, taking action to overcome systemic racism and the healthcare disparities in local communities includes hiring from, purchasing from and investing in local communities, said Dr. Joanne M. Conroy, D-HH CEO.

“As a system, we are working more diligently than ever to include all voices, whether they are employees, patients or those who live and work in our local communities, in the ongoing conversation and dialogue surrounding these key issues,” she said.