VCU to Present Lecture on Health Disparities and African Americans in Virginia

By Malorie Burkett and Gayland Hethcoat

Health care inequality in an increasingly diverse society will be the subject of a lecture program presented by Virginia Commonwealth University.

The event, "Historical Perspectives on Health Disparities and African-Americans in Virginia," is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 1, at the Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building auditorium, 1217 E. Marshall St.

The program will feature a keynote address by Rodney G. Hood, M.D., chief executive officer and managing partner of Care View Medical Group Inc. in San Diego.

Hood, the former president of the National Medical Association, will speak about the historical and contemporary interrelationships among race, ethnicity, medicine and social disparities that are at the root of health disparities.

Sponsored by VCU, and The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, the program will feature another presentation, "The Freedmen, Jim Crow and Hospital Segregation in Richmond."

David C. Sarrett, D.M.D., associate vice president for health sciences, will moderate the event, which is free and open to the public.

An hour-long reception will precede the program. For more information, contact LaForest F. Williams at (804) 828-7235 or e-mail vphsrsvp@vcu.edu.