East St. Louis and its residents deserve better during the coronavirus pandemic
East St. Louis was once an “All American City.” Fast forward to 2020, and it has become one of the most forgotten, underrated cities in America.
An essential part of every society is its health care system. For the city of East St. Louis, a quality health care system is a dream at this point.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, in a matter of months, uncovered the racially inequitable health care system in the U.S. During a recent White House press conference, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged the health disparity.
He said, “It is an exacerbation of a health disparity. We’ve known literally forever that diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and asthma are disproportionately affecting minority communities, particularly African Americans. ... We’re very concerned about that. It’s very sad. There’s nothing we can do about it right now except to give them the best possible care to avoid those complications.”
The remedy to this pandemic is “the best possible care ...” Here is the problem: East St. Louisans are not receiving the best possible care. As of April 10, there were 16,422 positive cases and 80,857 tests administered in the state of Illinois. Currently, the closest place for a citizen of East St. Louis to be tested is at Memorial Hospital in Belleville.
According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2018, the median household income in East St. Louis was $23,072. For an individual with a family and household bills, this money is close to nothing. When the nearest testing site is approximately 11.7 miles away, the barriers continue to grow. Some citizens will have to decide to pay for transportation to the hospital or to feed their families.
In this hour, we need our leadership to provide for us our right, which is “the best possible care ...” Gov. J.B. Pritzker has done a great job providing leadership to our state, especially to Chicago. However, what about East St. Louis? We need our governor to know he serves upstate and downstate. When, as elected as the governor of Illinois, it was to serve all.
Imagine how many citizens in the city of East St. Louis could be infected with this disease and are unaware. In a country where the health care system is about profit, we need our elected officials to serve with care and aggressive compassion.
We are beyond wanting equal treatment. As human beings, we deserve equity that produces a quality health care experience in our city. Quality health care is not a dream; we demand it to become a reality.