UCSF Black Health Initiative (BHI) was formed in the reality that significant COVID-19-related disparities existed among Blacks in the United States and that this reflected systematic and institutional racial and income inequalities that promote other known health disparities among Black Americans. This is true in San Francisco as across our country. It was clear that we needed community engaged strategies built to overcome historic distrust from and underinvestment in the Black community to be successful. 

BHI works to enhance UCSF’s partnering with the Black community. It does so by partnering with patients, community members and organizations, Department of Public Health (DPH) colleagues, and UCSF colleagues in the development, leadership and activities of BHI. 

Together we learn from the pandemics of COVID-19 and Anti-Black racism, learning from the ways we have all come together to protect ourselves, our community – to build upon our strengths and beautifully diverse voices in new ways that center the Black experience in San Francisco to uplift the health, wellness, and prosperity of the Black community in San Francisco