At CrossOver Healthcare Ministry, diversity is a fundamental value. Our patients come from over 100 countries and speak over 50 languages. We celebrate difference and work diligently to create spaces of welcome for patients, employees, volunteers, and donors from many racial and ethnic backgrounds.
But racism is a deeply entrenched and destructive force in our society. Structural racism has many costs, including economic and health impacts that are on view at CrossOver every day. Individuals qualify to be CrossOver patients based on income levels and insurance status, and those who qualify are disproportionately non-white. Our patients also have higher rates of chronic illness than the general population as well as greater vulnerability to diseases like COVID-19. Racism plays its part in all of these inequities. Our care for our patients is one visible expression of our commitment to racial justice.
Like all organizations, we do this work imperfectly. We fall short in ways we can see and in ways we have yet to learn. But we are committed to the work of racial justice, both internally as a CrossOver team and externally in the wider community. Unequivocally, we condemn racism and its particular expressions against our black neighbors. We believe we are called to do justice, and we commit to strive for a more equal, compassionate, and caring world.
Julie Bilodeau, CEO
Don Seitz, MD, board chair