Institutional declarations of support for Black lives were ubiquitous in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. The radical, transformative change demanded by hundreds of thousands of protestors across the country, however, has not been realized.
Health systems can and must help move the country in that direction. Addressing immediate social needs, such as food insecurity, housing, or access to health care, as some health systems are now doing, is important. But to truly value Black lives, they must also be willing to tackle one of the most upstream drivers of racial health disparities: the racial wealth gap.