Dear Closing the Health Gap Community:

April is National Minority Health Month, and last week marked Black Maternal Health Week — two critical observances that shine a light on the health disparities impacting underrepresented communities. At the Center for Closing the Health Gap, we see these challenges every day: higher rates of chronic disease, limited access to quality care, and alarming maternal health outcomes among Black women.

This month—and always—we reaffirm our commitment to addressing these injustices. Through advocacy, education, and community-led solutions, we are working to ensure every person in Cincinnati has the opportunity to live a healthy life. Let us use this time to raise awareness, inspire action, and push for equity in every corner of our healthcare system.

Blessings for a safe and healthy week ahead!

Renee Mahaffey Harris

President & CEO

COUNCIL ON BLACK HEALTH AND CENTER FOR CLOSING THE HEALTH GAP COLLABORATE TO LAUNCH NEW INITIATIVE

The Council on Black Health (CBH) and the Center for Closing the Health Gap (CCHG), have partnered to launch a groundbreaking initiative to improve the identification and control of hypertension among Black women in the greater Cincinnati area. This comprehensive, culturally tailored intervention aims to promote positive lifestyle changes and advance cardiovascular health.

Black women have the highest rates of hypertension among women in the U.S., with nearly 57% affected. Guided by the Results-Based Accountability (RBA) framework, collective action, and systems thinking, this joint initiative will address the root causes and barriers to hypertension prevalence and control.

Mount Sinai's new holistic approach aims to close racial disparity gap in healthcare

April 11 was the first day of Black Maternal Health Week. The week raises awareness about disparities in maternal health outcomes among black women. According to the CDC black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy related cause than white women. But Mount Sinai is taking a holistic approach to closing that gap. Dr. Sonya Brar, a Mount Sinai OBGYN and her patient and new mom Isedua Oribhabor explain the disparities and break down how this approach is making a change.

Professor’s Film Shows Racism’s Intergenerational Toll on Health

What does the intersection of public health and cinema look like? On a recent morning, members of the Columbia Mailman community had the rare opportunity to see for themselves, with the screening of a powerful new film called Brim produced by Paris “AJ” Adkins-Jackson, assistant professor of epidemiology and sociomedical sciences.

The film explores the impact of structural racism on the health and health care experiences of two families over three generations. Brim is informed by Adkins-Jackson’s scholarly work and supported by a Health Communication Pilot Award from the School’s Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion. Brim was filmed in Illinois by Visage Entertainment, LLC, between 2023 and 2024. Over the course of 80 minutes and three parts, the viewer sees how the historical practice of lynching innocent people evolved into modern forms of racial violence, perpetuating trauma and systemic inequality.

Inaugural Black Maternal Health Summit Calls for Statewide, Bipartisan Action During Minority Health Month

On Tuesday, April 15, state Senators Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) and Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) hosted the Inaugural Black Maternal Health Summit at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. Held in recognition of Minority Health Month and Black Maternal Health Week (April 11–17), the summit brought together policymakers, healthcare providers, researchers, and advocates to address Ohio’s maternal and infant health crisis—particularly its devastating impact on Black families.

The summit emphasized that improving maternal and infant health is a public health priority that affects all Ohioans regardless of race, geography, or political affiliation. Healthy mothers and babies are the foundation of strong communities, and the disparities in outcomes demand urgent, collective, and bipartisan solutions.

LOCAL 12: Local health organization shifts focus to smaller programs for community wellness

The Center for Closing the Health Gap is changing its approach to community health initiatives, moving away from its traditional large health expo in Washington Park. Instead, the organization will host a series of smaller programs aimed at addressing specific health needs.

Renee Mahaffey Harris, President and CEO of the Center for Closing the Health Gap, explained the shift in strategy. "So we're moving in a new direction because of our mission. We are here to close the health gap and while the expo has been a wonderful environment to bring us all together, we couldn't follow people because we weren't registering people," she said. "So being able to do things in a smaller setting so that we can actually register people, that we can bring in the right expertise, and then we can build a conversation that enables people to get the resources and thought processes to really begin to activate their own agency and advocacy in their health."