Minneapolis, MN
Race removed as factor in kidney function test, allowing Minneapolis woman to receive transplant sooner
MINNEAPOLIS — A major change in the medical world is helping make kidney transplants more racially equitable.
Race is no longer being considered an important test to estimate kidney function.
Bernadeia Johnson, a Black woman from Minneapolis, had kidney transplant surgery last month.
“I’m doing so well,” she said.
Living with stage five chronic kidney disease, Johnson had five donors fall through until the sixth turned out to be the charm.
“I had to show some level of strength, but I have to tell you, nobody should have to show this much strength,” she said. “It was very hard.”
There are several factors that go into someone’s placement on the transplant waiting list, including, of course, if there’s a match out there, but one of the factors is how long the wait has been.
Johnson got a big boost there.
“I was on the list for two years, but after they did the recalculation, I was on the list for five years and eight months,” she said.
That adjustment was the result of race being removed as a component in a test that estimates kidney function.
“I could still be waiting,” Johnson said.
Dr. Kirsten Johansen, Hennepin Healthcare’s chief of nephrology, says the test had been systematically causing Black people’s results to come back as higher, which, in some cases, may have affected their eligibility for a transplant.
“They required all transplant centers to go back and reevaluate…and then go through the charts of all Black patients to see whether they could document that they would have, under the newer equation, had a lower estimated kidney function sooner, and then to adjust their time back,” Johansen said.
Johansen says there’s still plenty of work to do to address racial disparities in health outcomes.
“Among people with kidney failure, requiring dialysis or transplant, it’s almost four times higher for Black people than for white people,” she said. “It’s also higher among Hispanics.”
In Johnson’s case, the culprits were diabetes and hypertension — two risk factors that occur at higher rates in Black people.
“There’s no silver bullet to any of this,” she said. “Just trying to take control of my own health and becoming my best advocate.”
What exactly is a data center and why are so many being proposed across Minnesota? Professor Manjeet Rege, chair of Software Engineering and Data Science and director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at the University of St. Thomas, joins us to explain how these massive facilities store and process the world’s data and what the economic, environmental, and infrastructure questions are as Minnesota considers hosting more of them.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis is ranked among the American cities with the most people in financial distress nationwide, according to a recent analysis by WalletHub.
The personal finance website, which defines financial distress as having a credit account in forbearance or with deferred payments, looked at the country’s 100 largest cities without data limitations across nine metrics, including average credit score, change in bankruptcy filings year-over-year, and share of people with accounts in distress.
Minneapolis came in 44th on the list, between Stockton, California, at 43rd and Fresno, California, at 45th, according to the ranking.
Nationwide, the cities with the most people in financial distress were Chicago at No. 1, Houston at No. 2 and Las Vegas at No. 3, the ranking said.
“Getting out of the downward spiral of financial distress is no easy feat,” according to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo.
“You may get temporary relief from your lenders by not having to make payments, but all the while interest will keep building up, making the debt even harder to pay off. People who find themselves in financial distress should budget carefully, cut non-essential expenses, and pursue strategies like debt consolidation or debt management to get their situation under control.”
Read more from WalletHub.
Minneapolis, MN
Whitefish council creates proclamation in solidarity with city, citizens of Minneapolis
WHITEFISH, Mont. — The Whitefish City Council in February presented and signed a proclamation expressing solidarity with the city and citizens of Minneapolis.
The proclamation states that Whitefish mourns the loss of life that occurred in Minneapolis and stands in solidarity with its residents.
It reaffirms the city’s commitment to equal treatment under the law and emphasizes that peaceful protest is a fundamental American right.
The proclamation was supported by five of the six council members.
Mayor John Muhlfeld said the action was meant to reaffirm the city’s values.
“A mayoral proclamation that is supported by five of six City Council members supporting solidarity with the city and citizens of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and reaffirming our supportive, just, equal and welcoming community,” Muhlfeld said. “I think this is somewhat overdue. Our town’s been through a lot over the years, This is more importantly to reaffirm our values as a council with our community because we care deeply about you.”
Over the last year, Whitefish has faced criticism amid rising tensions surrounding the Department of Homeland Security.
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View the full proclamation below.
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