Spectrum Health Lakeland: Addressing Health Disparities

Spectrum Health Lakeland has partnered with a local barbershop owner in southwest Michigan to change the narrative around access to care by transforming the barbershop into one of the organization’s Neighborhood-based Health Homes.

Every month, Roosevelt Bell, owner of Elite Barbershop, opens his doors to clinical educators, who provide free blood pressure screenings and health education to members of the Benton Harbor community. Since the inception of the health initiative two years ago, Elite Barbershop and Spectrum Health Lakeland have fostered positive discussion about key medical topics among individuals in the community.

“I think it is beneficial to me and my family and to the community,” said Bell. “It has raised awareness on different topics, for instance, diabetes. They actually have other topics each and every time they come in.”

Because health outcomes are more commonly determined by an individual’s zip code rather than their genetic code, Spectrum Health Lakeland is not only identifying disparities but putting practical solutions into place.

“We were able to map by the census track mortality rates on a very hyper-local level who was dying early and who was not,” said Lynn Todman, executive director for population health, Spectrum Health Lakeland. “What I have asked my colleagues to do is to build trust between us as a health system and the community. That lack of trust has often been why people don’t go and get the care when they need it. And when they go, it’s expensive and it’s late.”

Spectrum Health Lakeland has continued to hold the emphasis on ensuring health equity and eliminating health disparities among the southwest Michigan community, which has a greater than average representation of minorities.

“This is a unique county that has a bit higher than average representation of minority groups,” said Loren B. Hamel, MD, chief strategy officer, Spectrum Health and president, Spectrum Health Lakeland. “That is part of the fabric of who we are in southwest Michigan and has influenced how we think about healthcare. We want to commit to treating everyone who walks through our doors with love and respect. It goes a long way for building a trusting relationship.”

Learn more on Spectrum Health Lakeland’s Population Health webpage.