{"id":2196,"date":"2024-04-21T19:56:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T19:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=2196"},"modified":"2025-04-24T20:01:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T20:01:29","slug":"bloomberg-philanthropies-announces-600-million-gift-to-historically-black-medical-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2024\/04\/21\/bloomberg-philanthropies-announces-600-million-gift-to-historically-black-medical-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Bloomberg Philanthropies announces $600 million gift to historically Black medical schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a monumental move to address the underrepresentation of Black physicians in the United States, Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced a $600 million donation to the endowments of four historically Black medical schools. Officials said the donation is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies\u2019 Greenwood Initiative<\/a>, which aims to advance racial wealth equity and address systemic underinvestment in Black institutions and communities. Howard University College of Medicine<\/a>, Meharry Medical College<\/a>, and Morehouse School of Medicine<\/a> will each receive $175 million, while Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science<\/a> will receive $75 million. Additionally, Bloomberg said $5 million in seed funding will support creating a new historically Black medical school in New Orleans, the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine<\/a>. The historic investment will more than double the endowments of three medical schools, significantly boosting their financial stability and capacity to educate future Black physicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent study highlighted the need for such support, revealing that only 5.7% of U.S. physicians identify as Black or African American. This is despite Black Americans comprising 13% of the population. According to research, treating black patients by black doctors results in better health outcomes and more frequent medical care. For instance, Black patients are 34% more likely to receive preventative care if they see Black doctors. The four historically Black medical schools receiving funding graduate around half of all Black doctors in the U.S. but have been traditionally underfunded due to systemic inequities, including lower federal and state support. Since the early 1900s, discriminatory practices and the impacts of the Flexner Report<\/a> have led to the closure of 10 Black medical schools in the United States. The financial boost from Bloomberg Philanthropies should have a transformative impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, Democratic presidential candidate<\/a>, and founder of Bloomberg LP, will formally announce the donation at the National Medical Association\u2019s annual convention. \u201cThis gift will empower new generations of Black doctors to create a healthier and more equitable future for our country,\u201d Bloomberg said. In 2020, Bloomberg Philanthropies granted $100 million to these same medical schools to reduce the debt load of enrolled students facing severe financial burdens exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse School of Medicine, noted that the 2020 gift relieved an average of $100,000 in debt for each student, significantly enhancing the school\u2019s ability to fundraise and support its students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denise Smith, deputy director of higher education policy and senior fellow at The Century Foundation<\/a>, emphasized the importance of such philanthropic gifts. She pointed to MacKenzie Scott\u2019s donations to HBCUs<\/a> in 2020 and 2021 as pivotal in sparking increased support from other large donors. \u201cDonations that have followed are the type of momentum and support that institutions need at this moment,\u201d Smith told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association<\/a>, expressed relief upon hearing about Bloomberg\u2019s gift, especially in light of the Supreme Court\u2019s recent decision striking down affirmative action and attacks on programs promoting inclusion and equity.  \u201cThis opportunity and this investment affect not only just those four institutions but our country\u2019s health and future,\u201d Lawson asserted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a monumental move to address the underrepresentation of Black physicians in the United States, Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced a $600 million donation to the endowments of four historically Black medical schools. Officials said the donation is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies\u2019 Greenwood Initiative, which aims to advance racial wealth equity and address systemic underinvestment in Black […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1327,1325,1326],"class_list":["post-2196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-black-medical-school","tag-black-physicians","tag-bloomberg-philanthropies","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2197,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions\/2197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}