Metro Detroit hospitals the most racially segregated in the U.S., study says

Metro Detroit hospitals are the most racially segregated in the country, according to a new study released Thursday by healthcare think tank Lown Institute.

Researchers studied more than 2,800 hospitals in the U.S. using Medicare claims and the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey from 2020 to determine the racial makeup of patients at each hospital versus the makeup of the community in which they serve.

Metro Detroit’s hospitals scored the worst for racial inclusiveness at 90 percent segregated. St. Louis ranked second with a 77 percent segregation.

It’s not surprising the region’s hospitals scored low in the rankings as metro Detroit is frequently ranked as the most racially segregated metropolitan area in the nation.

Of the rankings, Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, Beaumont Hospital-Troy and McLaren Port Huron ranked among the 50 most racially segregated hospitals.

Detroit Medical Center’s Sinai-Grace Hospital ranked as the 13th most racially inclusive hospital in the U.S. Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit (19th), DMC’s Harper University Hospital (33rd), and Hurley Medical Center in Flint (38th) were also among the top 50 most inclusive.

Despite metro Detroit hospitals ranking as the most segregated, they were the least segregated in the nation for COVID-19 patients, meaning those hospitals served an equal number of minority and white patients with the virus, according to the study.

Racial segregation in hospitals is driven by elective procedures, according to the institute.

“Doing more elective procedures often means hospitals seeking to serve whiter and wealthier patients,” Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, said in a press release. “Given the destructive impact of the pandemic on communities of color, a return to business as usual isn’t acceptable and almost guarantees slipping backwards on racial equity.”

The pandemic caused even the most segregated hospitals to serve more minority patients and is proof more equitable care is possible, Saini said in a statement.

“Hospitals deserve praise for stepping up to the plate and being more inclusive during COVID, but we need them to be more inclusive all the time,” Saini said. “There’s been a slow pandemic of chronic disease in our urban communities of color for decades. That crisis remains and demands attention regardless of where we are with COVID.”

This story was first published in our sister publication, Crain’s Detroit Business.