Bay State to invest $1M to narrow racial gaps

LAWRENCE, Mass. – Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration is giving out $1 million in grants to agencies throughout Massachusetts to combat ethnic and racial health disparities, which he described as “one of the most pressing public health issues in the Commonwealth.”
Patrick announced the grants Nov. 28 after the Mass. Department of Public Health released a report showing substantial disparities across the state.
For example, 35 percent of Hispanics in southeastern Massachusetts are uninsured, while the state average is 9 percent. And black non-Hispanics in southeastern Massachusetts are 1.6 times as likely as the state average to die from heart disease – with 286 deaths per 100,000 people, age-adjusted, versus a 183 state average.