Most and least racially inclusive hospitals often in same city, new analysis finds

A new ranking of U.S. hospitals’ racial inclusivity suggests that many of the country’s most segregated hospitals are in urban areas and that top and bottom performers are frequently located within the same city (Source: “In many U.S. cities, most and least racially inclusive hospitals are neighbors, Lown Institute says,” Fierce Healthcare, May 25).

Further, the Lown Institute analysis placed more than twice as many “elite hospitals” named to U.S. News’ Honor Roll in the bottom third of the racial inclusivity ranking than it did in the upper third.

“The difference between the most and least inclusive hospitals is stark, especially when they are blocks away from each other,” Vikas Saini, M.D., president of the Lown Institute. “As the nation reckons with racial injustice, we cannot overlook our health system. Hospital leaders have a responsibility to better serve people of color and create a more equitable future.”

Announced today by the Lown Institute, the list ranks more than 3,200 hospitals using Medicare claims and U.S. Census Bureau data from 2018. The group awarded higher scores if the hospital served a greater proportion of non-white Medicare patients compared to the demographics of its surrounding community.

Both Cincinnati and Cleveland made the Institute’s list of the 25 U.S. cities with the most segregated systems.