On Wednesday night in the union room located in the Student Union, Black Caucus, a group of African American women hosted an event.
The John Muir Health Black Caucus was founded in 2020 to advocate for Black people within the medical field. Their mission is to “have a voice and develop a community at John Muir Health to express and not minimize our struggles as Black people working in the healthcare profession.”
The event was hosted by Megela Ohare the Basic Needs Program Coordinator for LMC from 5:30-7 p.m. The Black Caucus consists of Black women who advocate for the care of patients that are within the John Muir Healthcare Community. It is sponsored by The Belong and Equity Committee.
The John Muir Black Caucus is determined also to, “enhance the key initiatives that have already been established and create new ones to advance equitable Black Healthcare.”
There are also other sources within the John Muir healthcare community that pertain to Latinx, Filipino, and the LGBTQ community. Although every person’s story started differently, they all had the same goal in mind: to advocate for those who are of the least of these and to provide resources so they are able to maintain their health outside of a hospital.
The importance of the event was to bring mental health awareness within the LMC community. Also, the importance as Ohare said, “It is Black History Month, and there are a lot of racial issues going on within the community. We need to be the change that we want to see.” Ohare also hosts events twice a month to give students the space needed to talk about different aspects of health and mental health.
Each woman, a part of The Black Caucus of John Muir Health, was able to express their passion when it came to the healthcare field. One woman’s story that stood out was that of Artesia Sanders-Thomas. “I came into critical care because I was angry,” Sanders-Thomas says. “My father was sick and they didn’t give him the proper resources to be able to sustain life. He died a year later.”
Thomas believed that becoming a Case Manager at John Muir Concord would assist those who don’t know or don’t have the types of resources that many others may be aware of. It also assists in advocating for people of color by giving a voice to their concerns.
The Black Caucus meets once a month to speak about the issues within the Black community, and volunteer programs, and to create safe spaces for Black staff to share their concerns.
