COVID-19 and the Racial Disparity Conundrum: A panel podcast
Several weeks ago, I was taking care of a Hispanic man in the Emergency Department for respiratory complaints. He likely had COVID but was not quite ill enough for an admission to the hospital. As we spoke about quarantining himself, I could see his demeanor shift from relief that he was (relatively) okay to now having to stay at home until symptoms resolved. He explained that he was a landscaper by trade who worked outdoors. He had four children and would be unable to provide for them without going to work. I began to wonder if this was a profound problem and not one likely to be seen equally across racial lines. Later that shift, my charge nurse stated she had called approximately 30 patients to confirm their positive COVID results and 20 of them were Hispanic. I had also learned that for weeks, we had been receiving transfer after transfer to our ICU (often requiring intubation by me upon arrival) from the Navajo reservation of extremely sick individuals. I decided to do some digging.
Initially, I had a thought to catch up with colleagues on an individual basis to discuss what they were seeing with COVID -19 across the country, which I thought could help me to understand what I suspected. I reached out first to Dr. Ernie Sutton, who is an emergency physician who lives and practices medicine on the opposite side of the country as myself. In talking with him, I realized I also wanted to understand his thoughts on the social issues currently wracking the country, as well as how this was potentially impacting what we were seeing in the wake of the pandemic. What started as just another blog post, I combined what Dr. Sutton was seeing in his Emergency Department back East and his thoughts towards the racial discrepancies with what I had been witnessing. It then grew to several other providers interested in contributing to my very first podcast. I had a bit of trepidation in hosting this. I had never facilitated anything like this in the past and it was potentially going to cross some comfort barriers when discussing the racial disparity with socioeconomic and poorer outcomes in the COVID-19 pandemic. What if I froze while talking? What if I came across as insensitive? Worse, what if I was just boring and blew an interesting opportunity to continue the discussion that everyday people are having across the country. When you listen, judge me lightly, I will get better.
“ I began to wonder if this was a profound problem and not one likely to be seen equally across racial lines.”
After some lengthy introductions, I felt the conversation moved along smoothly without much break. The first part tackles essentially what we are seeing in the pandemic and the emotional toll it has taken on patients, the medical system and ourselves as providers. In the second part we move onto examining the rather staggering disparity in numbers (hospitalizations, deaths) among the races in relation to the pandemic, followed by the genetic and socioeconomic reasons behind this phenomenon. Almost two hours passed quickly and I am thrilled to say that I learned a great deal about the racial issues within medicine in general that may be contributing to this problem. I am proud to have been a part of this resulting conversation with such interesting, powerful people.
See links below to stream the 2 part series or go on Spotify and follow Welfie Dot Com podcast so you can listen to future episodes. Please do not hesitate to comment below to continue the conversation.
I am Brandon Lawrence, MD. I am an Emergency Medicine physician in Phoenix, Arizona. I am passionate about jump starting our society in as safe a way as possible in light of the ongoing pandemic. This is achieved by ongoing discussion, research and trying to reach as many people as possible. I enjoy creative writing, endurance athletics and spending time with my awesome family. Just getting started with the 21st century, follow me on twitter at Lawre237.