April is National Minority Health Month (NMHM), a time to raise awareness about health disparities that affect racial and ethnic minority populations and to encourage action through health education, early detection, and control of disease complications.
The National Urban League is honoring fearless and courageous Black women for #BlackMaternalHealthWeek.
In Knoxville, the African-American Health Care Clinician Workgroup and the Alliance House Community Coalition (AHCC) have been making inroads to bringing awareness to the disparities in health care available to minority communities and black women.
The facts are:
- Statistics show that Black women are three times more likely to experience a pregnancy-related death than white women.
- Approximately 700 women die annually in the United States as a result of pregnancy or its complications.
- During 2007–2016, Black and American Indian/Alaska Native women had significantly more pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 births than did white, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander women.
For health information and/or assistance in the Knoxville area contact:
Alliance House Community Coalition, is a non-profit that seeks to end disparities in healthcare administered to Black women through awareness of the rising mortality rate of black mothers and infants among other inequities. Headquartered at 3020 Martin Luther King Ave. in Knoxville, CEO De’Ossie Dingus provides a forum for partnerships, community involvement, and neighborhood groups to speak, and participate through collaborative sharing. Website, alliancehousecc.org; Email allianceknox@gmail.com; Phone 865-332-2677. Office hours are 10 am -2 pm. Mon.-Friday.
African American Health Care Clinician Workgroup and the Faith Leaders Church Initiative, a coalition of over 70 African-American church leaders and medical professionals in the Knoxville area established at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic to provide resources to ignored communities with tools to combat COVID-19. The office is at 3615 Martin Luther King, Jr Avenue in East Knoxville with CONNECT Ministry partners. FLCI has partnered with the Knoxville Health Department, University of Tennessee Medical professionals, Chi Eta Phi black nursing sorority and others. Together they have brought COVID-19 pop-up testing sites, vaccination clinics, masks, sanitizer, and much-needed resources to areas in need.
To register for a COVID-19 vaccination; contact Cynthia Thomas Finch at 865-254-4793, or visit Facebook here. Visit the website of CONNECT Ministries to know the many services it offers, or call Kiera Wyatt at 865-851-8005.
Cherokee Health Systems is receiving limited supplies of COVID-19 vaccines at some of its clinics. Community events to vaccinate in accordance with the State of Tennessee vaccine categories. For information or to schedule at available sites, call 1-866-231-4477. Visit the website cherokeehealth.com for updates, and to access the vaccination self-scheduling tool to be added soon. CHS has 20 locations in East Tennessee, plus one in Chattanooga and 2 in Memphis. Click here to find a location near you.
ABOUT: Cherokee Health Systems offers a wide array of comprehensive health services, including primary care, behavioral health, dental, and pharmacy. All services are available to children, adults, and seniors who have coverage through private insurance plans, state programs like TennCare or CoverKids, and those who have no insurance coverage. We proudly offer sliding-fee scales to those who meet certain household size and income guidelines.is committed to ensuring every Tennessean has access to effective, high-quality care. We don’t think anything should stop someone from getting the care they need, we make our services available to anyone who needs them.
Knox County Health Department, 140 Dameron Ave., Knoxville, has adjusted hours Monday-Friday due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Access is controlled and follows CDC guidelines. Phone 865-215-5000. For COVID-19 testing sites, case counts call the public information line at, 865-215-5555. For a list and information on services offered visit knoxcounty.org/health/.
Tennessee County Health Department near you, click here. There are a total of 89 primarily rural county health departments which operate under the direct supervision of the Tennessee Department of Health, in Nashville, while the six larger, urban counties – Madison, Shelby, Knox, Davidson, Hamilton and Sullivan – have health departments that operate under local governance but closely with the Tennessee Department of Health.
Centers for Disease Control provides information and assistance nationwide. Click here cdc.gov/reproductivehealth.