What You Should Know:
– Cerner announces a commitment to help expand COVID-19 testing at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the U.S through a partnership with Testing for America.
– As part of the partnership, Cerner will serve as the national technology partner for a return to school effort led by the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and The United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The strategic initiative aims to support HBCUs in their COVID-19 testing of students, faculty, and staff to help safely reopen campuses.
– Cerner recognizes the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for people of all races, colors, and socio-economic backgrounds to have access to quality health care and is proud to partner in this important initiative.
Cerner Corporation® announced it will serve as the technology partner in partnership with non-profit Testing for America and others, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) and The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCUs) efforts to offer rapid, consistent and affordable COVID-19 testing for students, faculty, and staff. Testing for America and its collaborators are helping these academic institutions develop comprehensive reopening safety strategies and linking them to lab partners and other support in the hopes of helping them safety return to classes.
Why It Matters
The effort to support HBCUs comes as communities of color around the nation are disproportionately impacted by the economic and health effects of the novel coronavirus. Testing of everyone on campus is one tool in an overall safety plan to help identify and contain the virus, often spread by asymptomatic carriers, and to help the campuses of HBCUs, which will serve a vital role in our nation’s recovery.
Cerner’s interoperable technology can be employed to make sure each COVID-19 test result is reported directly to the student, faculty, and staff member, as well as their physicians, for better, seamless medical care coordination and guidance and to all required public health agencies.
Importance of HBCUs Talent Infrastructure
This country’s HBCUs are a vital part of our national talent infrastructure. Our 101 HBCUs are responsible for 23% of all black college graduates, 60% of engineers, and 70% of doctors. Notably, they also have just one-eighth of the endowment of their non-HBCU counterparts. Cerner recognizes the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for people of all races, colors, and socio-economic backgrounds to have access to quality health care and is proud to partner in this important initiative.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for innovative solutions to deliver equitable care across all populations, and Cerner has vowed to use its technologies and leverage data to build a better, healthier world for us all. Cerner’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has been recognized for the past two years by Forbes naming the company as a leading Diversity Employer. Last year, Cerner CEO Brent Shafer signed the CEO Action Pledge for Diversity and Inclusion, uniting leaders from more than 900 companies in a common commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
“The nationwide effort to provide access to COVID-19 testing holds the promise to be a key pillar of the safe return to campus for these essential institutions. We are excited to have Cerner’s technology help scale this important initiative.”
“Robust testing protocols will help give the university community more confidence in coming back and will support our comprehensive approach to reopening,” said Tony Allen, president, Delaware State University. “We want to ensure that the kind of space so many of our students call home is perceived as a safe one, so that they can continue their education without pause.”
