Medford Mayor Declares Systemic Racism A Health Crisis

MEDFORD, MA — Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn signed a resolution this week declaring systemic racism a public health crisis in Medford. The City Council voted last week to support a similar measure.

Such a resolution means the city formally commits to addressing the crisis through "policy creation, systemic change, and community conversations, specifically with persons of color," Lungo-Koehn said.

"In order to be effective in instituting change we must start within our local communities by addressing racism, a root cause, that contributes to disparities among social determinants of health and health disparities and all other critical barriers to equity," she continued. "The city of Medford is committed to creating and instituting changes in our policies and practices across our municipal departments and within our school system to address institutional racism and the impacts of racism on the social determinants of health, and this Resolution is just one of our first steps."

Specifically, Medford will:

1. Evaluate existing policies and create policies to address institutional racism.

2. Release reports on existing policies and work around health equity, policing, and vulnerable populations, including planned actions to address disparities in social determinants of health data.

3. Engage historically underserved and marginalized persons and groups to aid in policy creation and action steps, in the short and long term.

4. Recommit to and enhance the city's hiring policies to promote equity across staff, boards and commissions, and volunteers.

"I want to thank the City Council for supporting a similar resolution last week, and for their commitment to furthering this important work within their own committees and discussions," Lungo-Koehn said.