In recent months, the University of Oregon Health Center has made statements publicly addressing systemic racism in health care, promising to hold themselves accountable. Some students respect the acknowledgement of the issue, but feel that the health center, like many medical centers in the United States, isn’t perfect when it comes to providing adequate health care to Students of Color.

The health center is actively taking steps to ensure equality of care for all UO students regardless of race, ethnicity or gender identity, said Debra Beck, Executive Director of University Health Services. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic certainly raised awareness of medical racism, which is a nationwide issue,” she said. “This has prompted our service to take a deeper look into ways we can continue to improve our model of health care delivery.”

Throughout the past year, the University Health Services has taken the history of medical racism into consideration when updating their practices, Beck said. They have devoted a large portion of their strategic plan to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and created committees meant to improve the education and training of staff members. 

University Health Services has also updated their medical resource materials to include different skin colors in diagrams. Rashes and other skin problems can look different depending on how dark or light the skin is, and sometimes problems go unnoticed on dark skin, Beck said. 

“This is an example of our broader effort to update medical resources that have historically been written for Caucasians to be more inclusive” she said. “This is a systemic problem in medicine, not just at UHS.”

Cristian Veliz, a UO senior and Student of Color, said that the health center can always improve their methods of helping students like him feel comfortable going in.

“I think a lot of Students of Color, especially if they’re first generation, might not really know how the process works, so they aren’t going to be as comfortable going to the health center,” he said.

When Veliz first visited the center as a freshman, he was accompanying his roommate, a first-generation Student of Color. They showed up not knowing that appointments were required, how to pay for the visit or how the process would go.
“They kind of assumed that we knew what to do and what to expect,” he said. 

Students from marginalized groups could benefit a lot from info sessions about things that more privileged students already know about, Veliz said. 
Fran Theodore, a UO junior and daughter of Haitian immigrants, said that having a more diverse staff would help her feel more inclined to go to the health center. 

“I’d feel a little bit more comfortable being open with a Black doctor who looks like me and understands me a little bit better,” she said. 

Black and Latino representation is somewhat lacking at the health center, and it could make a big difference, Veliz said. Something as simple as using People of Color in marketing campaigns could make students feel more included, he said. 

“Seeing someone who can relate to me and my background always makes me feel better,” he said. “If I see a CEO who’s a Person of Color, then I’d feel more comfortable going into a job interview. It’s the same when I’m going to see a doctor.”

The health center has been working with the National Black Nurses Association and Native American Nurses Association to recruit a more diverse staff, Beck said. They’ve also changed job descriptions to include things like “experience providing health care services to culturally diverse individuals” under minimum qualifications for certain positions. Health center management is working to embed diversity practices into their hiring system and requiring staff members involved in the hiring process to take a “Understanding Implicit Bias” course.

Veliz noted that the center lacks language options in some of their services, making them less accessible to students or their parents whose first language isn’t English. Increasing bilingual staff would make a big difference for these students and their families, he said. 

“I’m pretty happy with what the health center has to offer,” Veliz said, “but I think they can always do better when it comes to racial equality.” 

Beck sits on the Student Health Advisory Committee and hears first hand what students want to see change in the health center. They also offer feedback forms on which students can express their concerns after receiving care. Student feedback is a critical component to the health center’s improvement, Beck said.  

“This work will involve gaining more insight from our community into what we need to improve and then taking active measures to implement new processes,” she said.