Montgomery County Council proclaims April Minority Health Month; health leaders outline steps to reduce disparities

Council member Lorien Sales led a proclamation recognizing National Minority Health Month and urged county officials, health providers and community partners to redouble efforts to reduce racial and economic disparities in health outcomes.

The proclamation, read at the Montgomery County Council hearing, notes that although Montgomery County ranks among the nation’s healthiest counties, health benefits are not evenly experienced and cites specific disparities: about one in six residents rely on Medicaid; Black infants have higher rates of low birth weight; Hispanic residents have higher preterm birth rates; and nearly one-third of Hispanic or Latino residents reported being sometimes or never able to get care when needed, compared with 7% of non-Hispanic residents, according to the county’s 2024 community health assessment.

Dr. Ngozi Wexler, chief medical officer at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center and an obstetrician, told the council that severe maternal morbidity (SMM) disproportionately affects women of color and described hospital-level measures to reduce those outcomes. “We focus on reducing healthcare disparities in severe maternal morbidity,” Wexler said, describing an operational infrastructure for health equity that integrates data collection, clinical protocols and efforts to address unmet social needs.

Wexler said recent clinical steps include implementing a code OB hemorrhage activation protocol, expanding postpartum hemorrhage simulation drills, performing risk assessments and pre-delivery timeouts for every patient, increasing access to pre-delivery iron infusions to reduce anemia risk, and giving tranexamic acid in some cases to reduce bleeding. She also described cross-hospital sharing of best practices within MedStar Health and community partnerships to extend care beyond hospital walls, including home visits by caseworkers and coordination with programs aimed at hypertension and maternal support.

Council Vice President Will Jawando recalled the council’s earlier resolution declaring racism a public health crisis and emphasized the need to address systemic causes of poorer health outcomes. Council member Gabe Albornoz (joining virtually), chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, praised the county’s public health infrastructure and cited programs established during COVID-19—such as the Office of Food Systems Resilience and minority health initiatives—as foundations to address disparities.

The proclamation also reaffirms county priorities named in Healthy People 2030 and calls for protecting access to essential services including reproductive care, gender-affirming care and preventative screenings. Several leaders from the county health department and community health programs attended and introduced themselves, including James Bridges, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Dr. Keisha Davis, county health officer.

The council did not take a roll-call vote on the proclamation during the recorded segment; the item was presented and recognized by council members.