Gov. Gretchen Whitmer taps racial disparity task force members during COVID-19 update

LANSING, Mich. — They are public health officials, power company executives, communications specialists, and school, social and religious leaders. They are tasked, under the leadership of Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist with examining why a disproportionate number of minorities in Michigan are suffering and dying from coronavirus disease 2019.

MIchigan Gov. Gretchen Whiter said Monday that she signed an executive order creating the task force and charging the members with finding ways to erase those disparities.

"We’re going to do everything we can to lower the risk of catching the virus, no matter their community, their race, or their social economic status," Whitmer said. "That’s why today I signed an executive order officially creating the Michigan coronavirus task force on racial disparities."

The announcement was part of Whitmer's public update on the state's efforts to fight COVID-19, held in Lansing on Monday, April 20, 2020. She was joined by Gilchrist and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun.

"Black people make up 14% of our population and we made up 40% of the deaths," Gilchrist said Monday. "We only know this because the state of Michigan was one of the first and remains one of the few states to report it’s COVID-19 test results and deaths along racial lines.”

• INTERVIEW: Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist talks about the racial disparities that have exited for years in Michigan
• COVID-19: Find the latest news on the outbreak in Michigan by visiting the coronavirus page
  

Gilchrist said some dynamics behind the numbers are understood.

"We know that more often than not people of color do not have the financial luxury in the state of Michigan to be able to work from home," Gilchrist said. "Or they are more reliant on public transportation to get groceries or to get to work. They don’t have enough money to buy hundreds of dollars worth of groceries at a time to avoid repeat trips. Don’t have access to primary care physician or health insurance and neighborhoods may be environmentally compromised because of issues of environmental justice.”

Gilchrist said all of those reasons might contribute to the disparities, but its necessary and time to address such issues.

"We have a lot of progress to be made in many areas including access to healthcare improving our education system and making it more resilient and showing up our safety nets to ensure they cover people who are unemployed," he said.

The task force duties include:

• Finding ways to increase transparency in reporting health data.
• Removing barriers to accessing physical and mental health care.
• Reducing the impact of medical bias in testing and treatment.
• Mitigating environmental and infrastructure factors that create barriers.
• Developing better systems to support long-term economic recovery and physical and mental health care following a pandemic.

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Those who will join Gilchrist on the task force include Khaldun, Robert Gordon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and a number of people from different fields and different areas of the state. They are:

• Brandi Nicole Basket, D.O., of Clinton Township, is the chief medical officer for Meridian Health Plan Michigan Market.
• Matthew L. Boulton, M.D., of Ann Arbor, is the senior associate dean for Global Public Health and director of the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Program at the University of Michigan.
• Renée Branch Canady, Ph.D., of Lansing, is the chief executive officer of the Michigan Public Health Institute.
• Denise Brooks-Williams, of Detroit, is the senior vice president and chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Health System North Market.
• Dessa Nicole Cosma, of Detroit, is the executive director of Detroit Disability Power.
• Connie Dang, of Jenison, is the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and special assistant for Inclusive Community Outreach at Grand Valley State University.
• Marijata Daniel-Echols, Ph.D., of Farmington Hills, is the program officer at W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
• Debra Furr-Holden, Ph.D., of Flint, is an epidemiologist, the associate dean for Public Health Integration at Michigan State University, and the director of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions.
• Audrey E. Gregory, Ph.D., of Franklin, is the chief executive officer of the Detroit Medical Center.
• Whitney Griffin, of Detroit, is the director of Marketing and Communications for the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
• Bridget G. Hurd, of Southfield, is the senior director of Diversity and Inclusion at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
• Curtis L. Ivery, Ph.D., of Detroit, is the chancellor of Wayne County Community College District.
• Solomon Kinloch Jr., of Oakland Township, is the senior pastor at Triumph Church in Detroit.
• Jametta Y. Lilly, of Detroit, is the chief executive officer of the Detroit Parent Network.
• Curtis Lipscomb, of Detroit, is the executive director of LGBT Detroit.
• Mona Makki, of Dearborn, is the director of the ACCESS Community Health and Research Center.
• Alycia R. Meriweather, of Detroit, is the deputy superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District.
• Randolph Rasch, Ph.D., of East Lansing, is a professor and dean of the Michigan State University College of Nursing.
• Celeste Sanchez Lloyd, of Grand Rapids, is the community program manager for Strong Beginnings at Spectrum Health and a fellow in the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
• Jamie Paul Stuck, of Scotts, is the Tribal Council chairman and member of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Tribal Council.
• Maureen Taylor, of Detroit, is the state chair of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization.
• LaChandra White, of Allen Park, is the director of the UAW Civil and Human Rights Department.
• M. Roy Wilson, M.D., of Detroit, is the president of Wayne State University.