1500 S Fairfield Ave

Chicago, IL 60608

Response to NEJM Article

Drs. Michelle Morse and Bram Wispelwey of Boston’s Bringham and Women’s Hospital have come under attack for their work
highlighting the importance of race-conscious approaches to health care delivery in healing the harms brought on by centuries
of racist policies and practices. Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine published a perspective piecei asking healthcare
systems and providers to support Drs. Morse and Wispelwey and recommit to anti-racism efforts throughout their institutions.

As Illinois’ largest private safety net health system, Sinai Chicago has been serving marginalized communities for over 100
years. In 1919, our health system was established partly in response to racism, as a place where Eastern European Jewish
immigrants could receive care and Jewish physicians could practice. In the 1960s, “white flight” resulted in Chicago’s west side
shifting from largely white and Jewish, to a majority Black and Latino population. At the time, Sinai’s Board decided against
following the Jewish population to the suburbs, instead committing to staying and serving the needs of the changing
community. Today, Sinai Chicago serves a population that is approximately 60% African American and 35% Hispanic. Embracing
diversity, recognizing and supporting community assets, and working in partnership with the communities we serve are key for
our organization.

At Sinai, we acknowledge structural racism within society, our communities and our organization. In 1993 Sinai Community
Institute (SCI), the social-service arm of Sinai Chicago, was founded to address the barriers patients were facing in accessing
social services near their homes. In 2000, Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI) was established as the community-engaged
research arm of Sinai Chicago, specifically to support understanding of health inequities at a hyper-local level to better serve
our patients.

More than two decades later, SCI assists approximately 14,000 families each year through services and programs focusing on
violence prevention, immigration, education, job training, and other social issues. Meanwhile, SUHI has focused on
understanding root causes of health inequities and developing, testing and scaling evidence-based programs to address them.
A recognized leader in the integration of community health workers into healthcare teams, SUHI focuses heavily on cultural
humility and race-conscious approaches.

Sinai Chicago is working to redress inequities through the care we provide, our internal processes, and research towards
developing solutions in partnership with communities most impacted by health disparities. Our organization has been providing
diversity, equity and inclusion education to our caregivers, implementing antiracist and equitable policies, and creating
structures to support our values of structural competence, cultural humility, and community engagement. These include our
Executive Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council (EDEIC) and our Caregiver Resource Groups (CRGs), which serve as resources
for our caregivers.

It is in the spirit of this ongoing work that we publicly support Dr. Morse, Dr. Wispelwey, and all others working selflessly to
advance antiracist practices in health care. Like most healthcare organizations, we recognize that we have a long way to go
before obtaining closure on the striking inequities in health and persistence of structural racism burdening our communities.
The journey is challenging, but fundamental to our mission – quality care for everyone.

sinaichicago.org 773.542.2000
 1500 S Fairfield Ave
Chicago, IL 60608

About Sinai Chicago

Sinai Chicago is a Chicago-based private, not-for-profit organization comprised of seven member organizations: Mount
Sinai Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital, Sinai Children’s Hospital, Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, Sinai Medical Group, Sinai
Community Institute and Sinai Urban Health Institute. The system has over 800 physicians on its hospital medical staffs,
654 licensed beds, 100,000+ annual emergency department patient visits and eight physician residency training
programs. For more information, visit  www.sinachicago.org

sinaichicago.org 773.542.2000
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