Professor Lee Westgate presented at the OB Grand Rounds at St. Agnes/ Ascension. The presentation was entitled: Behind the Numbers: The Impact of Provider Bias on Child and Maternal Health Outcomes.
Westgate emphasized that maternal/ parental health and well-being are among one of the best indicators for the overall health of a community and yet even with a growing body of knowledge, health disparities and subsequently disparate outcomes persist – particularly for communities of color and historically marginalized populations. Westgate challenged attendees to examine the ways in which providers must reform the culture of practice – to include attending to the roles played by bias and disparate access to care.
This Grand Rounds session also presented attendees with emergent research on the aforementioned subject matter and hypothesized ways in which providers can reform their practice to better engage and support our structurally marginalized patients and communities.