The AHS Index is a new way to look at data that illuminates a snapshot of our world today. It is intended to highlight health inequities and spark conversation, debate, outrage, and wonder.
Year that Dr. Fitzroy E. Younge, an obstetrician, became the first Black physician to obtain full hospital privileges in the Bay Area: ~1945
Number of years that Byron Rumford, the first Black person to be elected to public office in Northern California, worked as a pharmacist at Highland Hospital: 8
Year that Dr. Lonnie Bristow, a Berkeley physician, became the first Black chairman of the American Medical Association in its 147-year history: 1993
Number of air miles Dr. Bristow claims he logged when travelling around the country in 1994 to “talk to every doctor eyeball to eyeball,” in a campaign to organize physicians’ influence on Clinton-era health care reform: >100,000
Percent of Black Americans under the age of 65 who were uninsured before the 2011 implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA): 20
After the ACA (as of 2022): 12%
Percent of Black children in California who rely on Medi-Cal for health insurance: 61%
Of white children in California: 49%
Percent of Black Children who have visited an emergency department for asthma: 28%
Percent of white children: 13%
Percent of the 140,000 U.S. children who were orphaned due to losing their caregiver during the COVID-19 pandemic who are children of color: 65
Number of volunteers who signed up to march with Alameda Health System in the 2024 Black Joy Parade, as of February 16, 2024: 84*
Last day in February to sign up: 25th*
*Source: AHS Public Affairs & Community Engagement (PACE)