COVID-19 and Racial Disparities in Our Healthcare System

The history of racial disparities in our healthcare system has created an atmosphere of alienation and distrust on the part of African Americans. Dr. Jessica Zitter and Pastor Corey Kennard will explore how this dynamic is affecting marginalized communities during the current COVID-19 crisis, and offer a vision of how this country might create a more equitable healthcare system.

Corey L. Kennard is Pastor of Amplify Christian Church in Detroit and also serves as an activist in the field of healthcare. He has been involved in the field of healthcare for over 20 years with over a decade of experience in the areas of Palliative Care and Hospice. He currently seeks to enhance the patient/family experience in healthcare settings. His work has also included formerly serving as a Faculty Lead for Duke University’s Institute on Care at the End Of Life (ICEOL) national training program called, “APPEAL.” In this role, he was instrumental in co-creating a national teaching module for understanding spirituality at the end of life for African-Americans. His work has been featured in the New York Times and the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

Jessica Zitter, MD, MPH, specializes in Critical Care and Palliative Care medicine, and practices at a public hospital in Northern California. She is the author of Extreme Measures: Finding a Better Path to the End of Life. Her essays and articles have appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Huffington Post, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and other publications. Her work is featured in the Oscar and Emmy-nominated short documentary, Extremis, now streaming on Netflix. She is a nationally recognized speaker on the topic of dying in America.