Alden Landry, MD, MPH

2009-2010

Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Assistant Dean for the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership; Associate Director and Advisor, Castle Society; Director of Health Equity Education; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Dr. Landry is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Assistant Dean for the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership; Associate Director and Advisor for William B. Castle Society; and Director of Health Equity Education at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as Senior Faculty at the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and is the founder and co-director of the non- profit organization Motivating Pathways. He strives to lead efforts for the Department of Emergency Medicine, the hospital and the medical school that will address health disparities and improve quality of care for the most disenfranchised.

In addition to his clinical interests, Dr. Landry is involved in research on Emergency Department utilization trends, disparities in care and quality of care. He also co-instructs a course at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and teaches cultural competency to residents and physicians. Dr. Landry promotes careers in the health professions to under-represented minorities and mentors, scores of pre-medical students, medical students, residents, fellows and junior faculty. Dr. Landry also leads the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, (www.tour4diversity.org) an effort to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine, dentistry, and other biomedical careers.

Dr. Landry has been recognized by his peers and colleagues as a leader in health equity and social justice. He has received numerous awards for his public health work and efforts to promote health care workforce diversity. He was recently awarded the Outstanding Academician Award by the Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine of the Society of Academic Emergency medicine and the Albert Frechette Award from the Massachusetts Public Health Association.

Dr. Landry received his Bachelor of Science degree from Prairie View A&M University in 2002 and his medical degree from the University of Alabama in 2006. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2009. In 2010, he earned a Master’s in Public Health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and completed the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University. He received the Disparities Solutions Center/Aetna Fellow in Health Disparities award in 2010-2011.

The Commission to End Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities in Massachusetts: Influences and Lessons Learned

Abstract:

In 2004, legislators, health care providers and community leaders came together as part of the Commission to End Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities in Massachusetts.  The goal of the Commission was to identify the health disparities in the Commonwealth of MA and to present recommendations for the elimination of those disparities.  In 2007, the Commission submitted over fifty recommendations to the General Court of MA and the Executive office.  The Commission had many successes and failures, much of which were influenced by state level health care reform, the political environment, key stakeholders in elected and appointed positions, the economy and national health care reform.

Methods:

Through interviews and surveys with stakeholders, I reviewed the process from a historical perspective to determine what influence, if any, the aforementioned factors had on the Commission and the implementation of the recommendation it produced.

Results:         

Important factors such as key stakeholders, the economic downturn and budget crisis, passage of Universal Health Care Reform in MA, also known as Chapter 58, and the electoral process all impacted the ability of the Commission and its recommendations to be effective.

Conclusion:   

With this information gained from this practicum, other states and the federal government can learn from the MA experience and identify ways to eliminate health care disparities.

Preceptor:

Alice Coombs, M.D., Massachusetts Medical Society