How neighborhood racism affects hospital closures, community resources, and residents' health
Impact of structural racism on hospital/clinic closures, community assets, and health outcomes in urban communities
This project examines how long-standing racist policies in neighborhoods relate to hospital and clinic closures, fewer community assets, and worse health for people who live there.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | State University of New York at Buffalo NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Amherst, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11369781 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your perspective, researchers will link historical redlining maps with records of hospital and clinic closures, neighborhood economic indicators, and health outcome data to identify where harms have concentrated. They will use public records, census and health datasets, geospatial mapping, and statistical models to compare neighborhoods over time. The focus is on U.S. urban neighborhoods shaped by discriminatory housing and policy practices and on recent trends in care access. The goal is to produce findings that point to policy changes and community investments to protect access to care and improve local health.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People living in U.S. urban neighborhoods with histories of redlining or who have experienced hospital or clinic closures would be most relevant to this work.
Not a fit: People living outside affected urban areas or those seeking immediate clinical treatments may not see direct benefits from this research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help guide policies and investments to prevent clinic closures, shore up community assets, and reduce health disparities.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research has linked redlining and structural racism to poorer health and reduced access to care, but explicitly connecting those histories to recent hospital and clinic closures and local asset loss is a newer, less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
Amherst, United States
- State University of New York at Buffalo — Amherst, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Egede, Leonard E. — State University of New York at Buffalo
- Study coordinator: Egede, Leonard E.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.