Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced that he will be giving back to four different historically black medical schools as he helps to increase the number of black doctors in the country. This is all in an effort to help improve the health of the black community, especially during the current pandemic.
According to the New York Times, the number one goal for the donation is to ease the financial concern of at least 800 medical students, who will receive grants up to $100,000.
The donation will cover Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Charles R. Drew University of Science and Medicine in Los Angeles, and Meharry Medical College, in Nashville.
Bloomberg’s donation has been labeled as one of the biggest by a single donor to historically Black colleges.
Bloomberg said, “By increasing the number of Black doctors, we hope the gift will help to save more Black lives and reduce the health problems that limit economic opportunity in Black communities.”
This donation is also the first major donation from Bloomberg’s Greenwood Initiative, which is a racial justice program he started during his presidential campaign.
.@BloombergDotOrg is committing $100M to America’s four historically Black medical schools over the next four years to help increase the number of Black doctors in the U.S. by significantly reducing the debt burden of approximately 800 medical students. https://t.co/vQsqvrLSUX
— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) September 3, 2020
According to CNN, Dr. Hugh Mighty, who is the dean at Howard University’s College of Medicine, said that the donation is a game-changer as many students usually graduate with debt. “When they graduate, medical students can have as much as $218,000. You’re reducing that tremendously.”
He added that Black students at Howard, that are on financial aid will be the ones that are eligible to receive a grant from the donation.
Dr. Mighty added, “Our population is predominantly African American. There’s a difference there in the need and how you would parse that need. We are going to make sure we match up to the intent of the donor.”
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
