Harms and Healing: Acknowledging Racial Injustice and Building Trust in Health Care: Q&A and Discussion

Proposal: The leaders of the Milbank Memorial Fund and the Voices for Our Father Legacy Foundation will share a model of acknowledgement, apology, acceptance, and trust-building in health care. In 2020, the Fund began an internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion review that examined the Fund’s history and led to an apology for its involvement in the racist, unethical U.S. Public Health Service syphilis study at Tuskegee. In 2022, the Fund publicly apologized to the Voices for Our Fathers Legacy Foundation, a non-profit formed by descendants, and formalized a partnership with them to promote their work. The Fund held an apology ceremony with more than 50 descendants at Tuskegee University and provided a financial gift to help Voices advance their mission. The Fund also committed to centering diversity, equity, and inclusion in its governance, operations, programs, and communications. This session will encourage participants to reflect on how their organizations may have reinforced and perpetuated the systemic racism that contributes to fundamental health inequities in this country, as well as their potential obligations to ensure unethical practices are not repeated and to advance health equity in their work today. We open to your suggestions for a clinician educator who we might include as a presenter to reflect on the implications of the harms and healing story for health professional schools and curricula.