Delaware
Fighting inequality, promoting health equity in Delaware – 47abc
Advocates discuss importance of heath accessibility in marginalized communities
DOVER, Del. – April is National Minority Health Month, and advocacy groups have been hosting events to educate the community.
The discussion of health equity has been permeating throughout the nation, especially when it comes to the inequalities that minority communities face. Local groups have banned together to address this current situation that is affecting all parts of the country.
The Division of Health and Human Services sponsored a Health Equity Summit this week in Dover. The conference focused on LGBTQ+ health equity, but also discussed issues that affect age, race, and ethnicity. They also partnered with other activist organizations such as Sussex Pride, to further their reach in the community.
David Mariner, Executive Director, describes what he believes are pertinent issues in the area: “To be honest, I don’t know of many LGBTQ+ folks that are going to that conference because there aren’t many LGBTQ+ organizations that are funded to do health work here in Delaware, and that needs to change.”
Assistant Secretary of Health Admiral Rachel L. Levine, who has gone on record for speaking out against health disparages in the Transgender and minority communities, was a guest speaker at the Summit. In recent years, Admiral Levine said, “Despite the progress that has been made, the most vulnerable among us continue to suffer, including transgender women of color, transgender youth, transgender immigrants, and so much more. We must do more. We need to create healthy people, healthy communities, and a healthy nation for all.”
Mariner went on the describe some of the things Secretary Levine has accomplished in other areas. “Dr. Rachel Levine, when she was in Pennsylvania, did all of the things that Delaware has not yet done around health equity for LGBT folks. They have a governor’s commission on LGBTQ health equity, they release regular health reports to identify health disparities, and they commit financial resources to that work.”
Members of the community may be asking: what is health equity and what does this mean for our community?
Delaware Department of Health and Social Services describes health equity as the absence of systematic disparities in health between groups with different levels of underlying social advantage or disadvantage. This can be a mix of wealth, power, or prestige. Social Determinants of Health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, and worship, that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
The ultimate question is, can we as a collective achieve health equity? According to the CDC, health equity is achieved when every person has the opportunity to “attain his or her full health potential” and no one is “disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or other socially determined circumstances.”
Many lawmakers and grassroots organizations are determined to push for equity and stand against health inequality.
Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
Delaware Ohio Housing Growth
A look at the rapid expansion of housing developments in Delaware, Ohio.
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Every few weeks Delaware city approves a new housing development. The city has more than 4,000 housing units in its development pipeline, contributing to the rapid growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio.
A crash shut down U.S. 42 in Delaware County in both directions June 2.
As of 7 a.m., U.S. 42 was closed from U.S. 23 to Jegs Place near the Delaware Municipal Airport.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured in the crash or when the roadway would open.
This is a developing story and will be updated
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
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