Broken Promises to the People of Newark: A Historical Review of the Newark Uprising, the Newark Agreements, and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School’s Commitments to Newark

Rosy C. Franklin, Ryan A. Behmer Hansen, Jean M. Pierce, Diomedes J. Tsitouras and Catherine A. Mazzola
Additional contact information
Rosy C. Franklin: New Jersey Pediatric Neuroscience Institute, Morristown, NJ 07960, USA
Ryan A. Behmer Hansen: New Jersey Pediatric Neuroscience Institute, Morristown, NJ 07960, USA
Jean M. Pierce: Health Professionals and Allied Employees, Emerson, NJ 07630, USA
Diomedes J. Tsitouras: American Association of University Professors, Biomedical and Health Sciences of New Jersey, Newark, NJ 07103, USA
Catherine A. Mazzola: Department of Neurosurgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Many have referred to the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis and intertwined issues of structural racism as “twin pandemics”. As healthcare workers in Newark, New Jersey, a city heavily affected by the twin pandemics, we recognize that health workforce changes must be grounded in our community’s recent history. The objective of this essay is to briefly describe the relationship between organized medicine, state and local leaders, and the people of Newark. We begin with a discussion of Newark in the 1950s and 1960s: its people experienced poor socioeconomic conditions, terrible medical care, and the many sequelae of abhorrent racism. Plans to establish a New Jersey Medical School in Newark’s Central Ward also threatened to displace many residents from their homes. We then describe the Newark Agreements of 1968, which formalized a social contract between the state, business leaders, and people of Newark. In part, the Medical School committed to indefinitely promoting public health in Newark. We share progress towards this goal. Finally, we document key healthcare administrative decisions facing our community today. Stakeholder opinions are shared. We conclude that the Newark Agreements set an important standard for communities across the country. Creative solutions to healthcare policy may be realized through extensive community collaboration.

Keywords: health workforce; workforce policy; health equity; racism; history; medicine; medical education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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