Minnesota is one of the healthiest states in the country, but it has some of the worst health disparities.  A primary driver of health and chronic disease starts in people’s social and physical environments. This could be transportation, education, childcare settings, or their housing. All communities can experience poor health outcomes, but due to systemic inequities and the racial hierarchy on which the United States was built., they disproportionately occur in communities of color and the American Indian community.

In this episode we take a closer look at what we mean by “systemic inequities,” and talk with two people deeply engaged in this work in two large health institutions in Minnesota: Vayong Moua, Health Equity Director at Blue Cross, and Maria Sarabia, Racial and Health Equity Administrator at Ramsey County. They both serve on the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council in the state of Minnesota’s Department of Human Services (DHS).

DHS is the state’s largest agency and provides or administers a variety of services to help people meet their basic needs and live as independently as possible. The agency makes up approximately 42 percent of state spending and approximately 80 percent of the agency’s $18.65 billion fiscal year 2019 budget is devoted to health care and related services. DHS is working to implement equity practice and capacity within its core functions, through implementing a health equity policy, and the formation of the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council, that serves to track equity, accountability, and systems change throughout the agency.