CLEVELAND — MetroHealth President and CEO Dr. Airica Steed will take one of 13 seats on the Cuyahoga County's new Women's Health Advisory Council, because she has firsthand knowledge of what it must accomplish.
"I lost my mother, I lost both my grandmothers, and more recently a year ago I lost my baby sister to health care disparity, so it fuels my passion," Steed told 3News earlier this year after she first arrived in Cleveland.
Research shows regardless of economic status, women of color often experience systemic racism in medical care, often told their concerns are minimal or even made up. Another example is that maternal and fetal death rates in Cuyahoga County are the highest in the state, even higher than the state average among Black women.
County Councilwoman Meredith Turner, who co-sponsored the ordinance, also knows what it's like to be dismissed in health care.
"Data, data, data — this is not emotion, this is not people making it up," Turner said. "These are real occurrences, and I can tell you from my own personal experience because it took years for a medical issue to be diagnosed because I kept being told that what I was experiencing was normal."
The goals of the council will be:
- Acting as a resource for information, advice and recommendations regarding goals, strategies and programs of the County to support women’s health.
- Creating recommendations for allocating grant funding related to women's health issues.
- Providing advice and recommendations regarding funding of programs designed to support better access to women's healthcare.
- Meeting publicly on a quarterly basis to provide a forum for the public to offer ideas and recommendations regarding women’s health.
- Serving as a resource for crisis responses around the status of reproductive rights in the state of Ohio.
They hope to have councilmembers chosen in October and ready to get to work by November.
"Momentum begins with a moment, and it is our moment, women in our community," Steed said Tuesday. "It is time for us to turn Cuyahoga County as it is as Cuyahoga County as it should be."
I also spoke to County Executive Chris Ronayne about the advisory council:
Read the full ordinance here: