Pandemic Exacerbated Healthcare Inequity – Dr. Curry-Winchell

Pandemic Exacerbated Healthcare Inequity, Dr. Curry-Winchell

Dr. BCW, Dr. Curry-Winchell, discusses the fact that the pandemic exacerbated healthcare Inequity for black and brown people.

find the full article from She Knows here

But no one dies without first fighting to live. An issue that forces people in need of care to directly confront the intrinsic racist and discriminatory practices of providers, nurses and the healthcare system at large.

Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell, is a practicing physician and serves on the governor’s medical advisory team for COVID-19 in Nevada. She gave the example of examining people with kidney disease. The metrics doctors use makes Black people’s kidney’s look healthier than they really are.

She said, “If your kidneys are perceived as healthier by the time you happen to progress to full blown kidney disease. You are already far off the curve than someone who is Caucasian or of a different race.”

In COVID such a disparity in diagnosis can mean a death sentence because of how the virus attacks and shuts down so many of the body’s systems and functions. But not only were there disparities in diagnosis, there were also disparities in how symptoms were assessed.

“I like to talk about COVID toes,” Dr. Curry-Winchell said.

COVID toes was considered a mis-hyperpigmentation that was a symptom of COVID. When Dr. Curry Winchell first learned of the symptom it was through imagery that only showed examples with white patients.

She said, “I look for different things to help me identify my patients. So when you have a picture or imagery of something that is not really encompassing for all, that again affects the timeliness that you can diagnose, the access, and other factors.”

 

If you missed Dr. Curry-Winchell’s article on the urgent care aftermath.  Find it here.

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