The Rush University System for Health and BMO Financial Group are launching an institute that aims to improve economic vitality and health outcomes in the region.
BMO’s $10 million donation to create the Rush BMO Institute for Health Equity is the three-hospital network’s largest-ever gift in support of eliminating health disparities. The institute intends to raise a total of $70 million over the next several years to build on existing initiatives at Rush, with a focus on four key areas: education and workforce development; innovative community-based care; community engagement to address social factors that affect health, such as food insecurity; and research.
Rush, Chicago bank launch $10 million health equity institute
“Although a tremendous amount of work has been done both at Rush, in Chicago and elsewhere as it relates to health equity, we still have enormous disparities in the way we deliver care, the way people access care and in our health care culture,” said Rush University Provost Dr. Susan Freeman, who serves as co-director of the institute.
Long-standing disparities in access to food, housing, education, safety and wealth have led to a 30-year difference in life expectancy between Streeterville and Englewood. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic shined a harsh light on that reality, with Black and Brown people dying from the virus at much higher rates than whites.
Then, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, a group of Chicago hospitals and clinics declared racism a public health crisis and committed to improving health equity here.
“The disparity between the treatment some people get depending on the ZIP code they’re in and the life expectancy (gap)—it’s so stark,” U.S. CEO of BMO Financial Group David Casper said, noting that improving health outcomes is “measurable and possible” through the Rush BMO Institute.
Specific initiatives at the institute will include training the next generation of health care providers to address structural racism, expanding community-based research and using data to influence public policy, Freeman said.
This isn’t the first time BMO and Rush have worked together to address health disparities. The financial services provider donated $5 million to the system in 2013 to help prepare students for health care jobs on Chicago’s South and West Sides.
Today’s announcement also follows BMO’s $10 million donation to the United Way Neighborhood Network program as part of Chicago’s INVEST South/West initiative, as well as its commitment to support inclusive economic opportunity nationwide by donating $5 billion over five years.
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