Statement on President Biden’s COVID-19 National Strategy, Executive Orders

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement attributable to:
Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH
President and CEO
America’s Essential Hospitals

America’s Essential Hospitals applauds President Biden’s swift pledge to fight the COVID-19 pandemic through the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness and related executive orders.

Essential hospitals nationwide have experienced the disproportionate effect if COVID-19 on communities of color and other underserved populations. We are grateful for the president’s pledge to create a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, improve access to treatment, and enhance COVID-19 data collection, as well as a renewed dedication to fill medical supply shortfalls in communities in need.

Further, we are encouraged by the executive order on advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government, an unprecedented action that aims to advance equity across federal programs and policies and root out structural racism.

We look forward to working with the Biden administration to ensure essential hospitals receive the necessary support to fight COVID-19 in the vulnerable communities they serve and to address structural racism.

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