Howard University Receives $1.59M Gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies to Increase Vaccination Efforts

Dear Howard University Community,
 
I am pleased to announce the Howard University College of Medicine has received a $1.59 million gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative to expand their mobile unit vaccine operations.

As we know, Howard’s role as a trusted public health advocate is critical to addressing the lack of access within Black and medically underserved communities, thanks to our partnership with the District of Columbia Department of Health. The support from Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide mobile medical unit upgrades, paid staffing for the units, medical supplies, and increase outreach to the community.
 
Howard University has vaccinated more than 25,000 people since December 2020. Howard’s efforts are focused on serving those most in need, including Black communities in areas that have low vaccination rates. This effort is coordinated in partnership with the District of Columbia as both an on-site vaccination clinic and mobile support unit in communities in need of vaccine access.
 
This gift will help address the disproportionate health and economic impacts of COVID-19 on the Black community. Black individuals are less likely to have the ability to work from home and make up almost 17% of all front-line-industry workers. This increases the risk of exposure for Black Americans who are three times more likely than white individuals to contract COVID-19, and twice as likely to die from it. Black people are also less likely to have paid sick daysleaving many who have recovered from COVID-19 with stalled income and the additional burden of medical bills. This is exacerbated by the fact that 12.3% of Black workers are uninsured vs. 7.5% of white workers making it more likely that Black workers will be burdened with costly medical bills if they get sick, and 73% of Black Americans say they do not have substantial financial reserves to cover sizeable emergency expenses. 
 
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative is an effort to accelerate the pace of Black wealth accumulation in the United States and address decades of systemic underinvestment in Black communities. Greenwood made its first investment last September during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic -- a $100 million gift to the nation’s four historically Black medical schools, of which Howard University College of Medicine received $32.8 million. The $100 million gift helped ease the debt burden of approximately 800 Black medical students. Studies have shown that Black patients have better health outcomes when cared for by Black doctors but Black medical students face a disproportionate financial burden to become doctors.
 
Both gifts address the significant economic impact of persisting health disparities within the Black community and the importance of access to trusted healthcare providers and institutions.
 
Please join me in thanking Bloomberg Philanthropies for this generous donation and let’s continue to work together to conquer and end the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Excellence in Truth and Service,
 
 
Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA
Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery
President