By: Michael G. Reel
Reel Urban News COVID-19 Series
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the underserved black and brown communities of Los Angeles, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Martin Luther King Jr. Outpatient Center and Los Angeles County Fire Department opened a COVID-19 mobile testing site. In June the university released a report on the site.
According to the report’s executive summary, “the COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to be one of the most devastating public health crises in modern history.”
On July 1, as COVID-19-related deaths reached 130,000, Dr. Sheila Young, Director of the COVID-19 testing site, discussed the report’s findings with Reel Urban News just steps away from the extremely active drive-up / walk-up testing site located on the university’s campus.
“It really pains me to hear these numbers and know that we couldn’t prevent a lot of these deaths. Especially among people from under-resourced communities,” said Young. “Especially among the brown and black population and Pacific Islanders.”
At the start of our interview, Dr. Young identified some of the challenges we faced in the early stages of the virus. “Number one: We didn’t call this virus what it truly was initially – this is SARS,” said Dr. Young, citing the severe respiratory illness that appeared in 2002. “Second of all, we didn’t take this virus seriously. We dismissed it. We thought that it wouldn’t affect as many people that it had. Thirdly, we weren’t getting the right information. We were getting information that said you don’t have to wear a mask initially. We were getting information that said people who are asymptomatic don’t spread the virus. And those things just are not true.”
Charged with managing the on-campus COVID-19 testing site, Dr. Young spoke candidly about the issues that she believes hamper or play a significant role in the poor health services provided to black and brown communities.
Dr. Young even went a step further. “I call it a bias – it’s a nice way to say it. Essentially it’s racism. Racism has been a part of the culture of medicine.”
Keenly aware of the racism that plagues the medical profession, Dr. Young admits she worked hard to avoid the bigoted attitude she discovered in the formative years of her career.
“I found myself during my training adopting some of the mentalities and views that those who were training me possessed. I had to stop and think about my family. Think about my friends and see my patients and want to fight for them.”
As COVID-19 roars back across the nation, Dr. Young advised, “Instead of continuing to look at the problem and continuing to look at the numbers, we should be fighting every day to do everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to save as many lives as possible.”
According to the COVID-19 testing site report’s findings, African American and Latinx community members make up 86% of the 25,381 people tested at the site. “Without this testing site many people would not have access to testing,” said Dr. Young. “We have a lot of folks who walk here. Some people don’t have cars and they take public transportation – taking a bus to some of the further testing sites that are offered by the city and county wouldn’t be feasible.”
In addition to acknowledging bias in medicine, Dr. Young discussed classism as well. “We look at class – we look at their sex – we look at the color of their skin – we assign a judgment system of who’s important and who is not important. Who is necessary and who is dispensable.”
Charles R. Drew University is located in the Los Angeles community of Watts with the City of Compton on its southeastern border. “What this community has heard over and over again is you’re dispensable,” said Dr. Young. “And that’s wrong morally and ethically.
“Every human life matters. And right now with people saying Black Lives Matter – that’s because black people are dying not only at a disproportionate rate at the hands of police officers but in medicine as well. And that’s what the COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting.”
Following the Watts riots of 1965 the McCone Commission cited diminished access to healthcare as contributing to the civil unrest in Watts.
According to Dr. Young, being involved with the community and with her stakeholders plays a significant role when you want to engage with local residents. “The study demonstrated that community outreach works.” Still the mobile testing site faced challenges. “We faced a number of barriers when we first opened. Number one: people were afraid the swab would go in their nose and go far back into their brain. We physically took pictures of a mouth and where to swab in your mouth and posted them around the community. It’s an oral swab that we’re doing here at the site so people don’t have to be afraid.”
In the closing moments of our one-on-one interview with Dr. Young, who spoke with Michael Reel of Reel Urban News, the testing site director shared her desire to see improved treatment for both black and brown people for COVID-19. “My hope is that we will take immediate action to admit people to the hospital with severe symptoms of COVID-19. I want to see that people are being admitted and being put on oxygen or early incubation and the people that they should be admitting are the people who are black and brown.”
