Moving the dial in overcoming obstetric racism

Foundation board member Iris Harvey supports education for Summa Health staff

Thanks to the enduring generosity of Summa Foundation board member Iris Harvey, obstetrics caregivers at Summa Health and throughout the community are learning to recognize and respond to the issue of obstetric racism. This refers to the discriminatory practices and other mistreatment experienced by Black women, girls and gender-expansive people who seek care for pregnancy-related conditions.

Iris generously funded a scholarship for Vanessa Sampsel, manager of Centering Care at Summa Health, to attend the inaugural Birthing Cultural Rigor (BCR) Obstetric Patient Safety Summit (OPSS) in Nashville, Tennessee, in December 2023. 

“Because Summa Health is an important health system in the Akron/Summit County community, educational opportunities like this could propel Summa into moving the dial forward in reducing preventable Black infant and maternal deaths,” said Iris. 

Iris said she donated the scholarship to attend the Obstetric Patient Safety Summit because it provides scientific data collected from Black women and our community on the pain points and performance indicators related to quality and patient safety in obstetric and perinatal care. 

“At the summit,” said Vanessa, “we discussed power dynamics and the historical timeline of structural racism in healthcare and ways to address these factors that still impact the delivery of care today.”

After bringing her experience back to Summa Health, Vanessa said that leaders working in Women’s Health have been exploring options for the health system to continue elevating the quality of perinatal care that builds on prior training and education. Team members also have expressed interest in having Iris and Vanessa present information and lessons learned from the summit as the health system considers its next steps. 

“Racial health disparities and racism cannot be addressed with simple implicit bias training,” said Iris. “Until then, our health systems cannot move the dial in this area. I’m proud to support Summa Health in this initiative.”

For more information, contact Jessica Hudson at 330.375.4762 or hudsonj@summahealth.org.