Forty-seven percent of health care workers nationwide have witnessed discrimination against patients in their facilities, and 52 percent say racism against patients is a crisis or major problem, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund and the African American Research Collaborative (AARC). Younger health care workers and health care workers of color were more likely than their older or white counterparts to say they witnessed discrimination.
The report, Revealing Disparities: Health Care Workers’ Observations of Discrimination Against Patients, is based on findings from a nationwide survey of more than 3,000 health care workers aimed at understanding the impact discrimination and racism have on health care professionals and patients.