Early on in the pandemic, people of color were nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19. Those health inequities weren’t surprising to Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, who was among the first public health officials in the nation to demand her state of Michigan collect race and ethnicity data on COVID patients. In fact, solving them has been her life’s work. Now the chief health equity officer at CVS Health, Joneigh tells Andy where her passion for improving the health of underserved communities stems from, including her own personal experience being dismissed by doctors, and the tangible ways the health care system can do better.

Keep up with Andy on Twitter @ASlavitt. 

Follow Joneigh Khaldun on Twitter @DrKhaldun.

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• Throughout the pandemic, CVS Health has been there, bringing quality, affordable health care closer to home—so it’s never out of reach for anyone. Because at CVS Health, healthier happens together. Learn more at cvshealth.com.

Check out these resources from today’s episode: 

• Find out what the Biden administration plans to do to address systemic inequities that lead to worse maternal outcomes for Black, Native American, and rural women: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/04/13/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-additional-actions-in-response-to-vice-president-harriss-call-to-action-on-maternal-health/
• Find vaccines, masks, testing, treatments, and other resources in your community here: https://www.covid.gov/
• Order Andy’s book, Preventable: The Inside Story of How Leadership Failures, Politics, and Selfishness Doomed the U.S. Coronavirus Response: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250770165 

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