Evers administration creates Office of Health Equity to serve underrepresented groups | Local Government
The Wisconsin State Office Building, 1 W. Wilson St., houses the state Department of Health Services.
A new office within the state Department of Health Services will work to improve the health of historically underrepresented groups in Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration announced this week.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated vast differences in COVID-19 risk and outcomes, particularly for people of color, said DHS Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake in a statement. “We have to change the circumstances that create gaps in opportunity to be healthy and in health outcomes.”
COVID-19 has functioned as “an X-ray,” the agency said in a news release, revealing existing disparities in access to health care and opportunities to be healthy that were exacerbated by the pandemic.
The Office of Health Equity will conduct research and analyses to learn more about — and address — root causes of health conditions, including housing, income and health care quality and access.
Compared to white Wisconsinites, Black residents are 2.1 times more likely to be to be hospitalized with COVID-19, while Latino residents have 1.7 times greater COVID-19 case rates and American Indian residents are 1.5 times more likely to die from the illness. DHS has tracked this data since Feb. 5, 2020.
