PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. – Women of color account for just five percent of health care leadership positions in the United States, according to an analysis by McKinsey & Company.
Deneen Richmond, president of Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland, is one of the few Black women in a top role.
The hospital Richmond leads is just a mile from the elementary school she attended as a child. Richmond recalled experiencing racism for the first time as she tried to get to her new integrated school in the 70s.
“We basically felt unwanted here,” Richmond said. “Our buses would pull up and there would be parents of kids throwing things at the bus, yelling nasty things as we’re getting off the bus.”
“No kid should have to go through that, not because of anything that you’ve done, but just because of the color of your skin,” she said.
Nearly 50 years later, Richmond is working to fight racial inequities that remain in health care, a fact highlighted by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“I think a lot of it, and even what we see in health care, is the same thing we’re seeing in our communities,” Richmond said. “There’s still bias, there’s still racism, and so I think that impacts women and women of color and our ability to be recognized for the talents and strengths that we bring to the table.”
Richmond said adding diversity to her staff has built trust with the patients they serve.
“When you feel like someone looks like you, it makes a difference, you may open up more and be more willing to share and feel like you’re not going to be judged,” Richmond said.
Within her community, Richmond strives to make health care more accessible to patients, even taking COVID vaccines and preventive health care outside of the hospital walls to locations from churches to the local farmers market.
“There’s a quote that says your life expectancy is more determined by your zip code than your genetic code,” Richmond said. “I think we really have to look at health holistically, making sure that there’s access to care, quality of care and that we address the social issues and barriers that get in the way. That’s the only we’re going to be able to produce the health outcomes that we all want to see,” she says.
Richmond, whose career began as a registered nurse, also believes efforts to increase the number of women in medicine should start early.
“I think we have to start as soon as elementary school to be honest. Girls need to know that STEM careers are sexy and fun,” Richmond said.
She’s returned to her old grade schools to offer to speak to students and share her story.