Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces Largest Gift Ever

NEW YORK, NY – Michael Bloomberg Philanthropies recently announced a new $600 million gift to help bolster the endowments of the nation’s four historically Black medical schools: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine.

Seed funding will also be given to support the creation of the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, a new medical school in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The medical schools at Howard, Meharry, and Morehouse will each receive a gift of $175 million, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science will receive $75 million. The new funding will more than double the existing endowments of three of the schools.

Funding levels were determined by current class size and anticipated growth. In addition, the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, an HBCU medical school being developed in New Orleans, will receive a $5 million grant. Xavier Ochsner is a partnership between Xavier University of Louisiana—one of the top educators in the US of Black students who go on to graduate from medical school—and Ochsner Health—the leading not-for-profit academic health care provider in the Gulf South.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies’ investment is part of its “Greenwood Initiative,” an effort that seeks to advance racial wealth equity including addressing systemic underinvestment in Black institutions and communities. The funding will fuel the historically Black medical schools’ long-established commitments to diversifying the medical field and training the next generation of doctors. Increasing each school’s endowments will strengthen its financial stability and institutional capacity to respond to the rising costs of tuition, innovative research, and operations.

These four historically Black medical schools graduate around half of all Black doctors in the US, but their endowments are significantly underfunded as a result of systemic funding inequities including lower federal and state support.

Research has shown that Black people have better health outcomes and receive medical care more frequently when they are treated by Black physicians. Further, Black patients are 34% more likely to receive preventative care if seen by Black doctors. Yet data shows that while the US population is 13% Black, only 7% of medical school graduates and less than 6% of all practicing doctors are Black. Debilitating health problems take an enormous economic toll on families and communities so creating more Black doctors will help to address racial wealth inequities.

Since the early 1900s, a combination of these factors—including the impacts of the Flexner report and other discriminatory practices and attitudes—have led to the closing of ten Black medical schools in the United States.

“We have much more to do to build a country where every person, regardless of race, has equal access to quality health care—and where students from all backgrounds can pursue their dreams,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and Bloomberg L.P.

Bloomberg is the former Republican mayor of New York and hopeful Demo-cratic presidential candidate with a long history of charitable works.

He continued, “Addressing health disparities and under-representation in the medical field are critical challenges, and Bloomberg Philanthropies is dedicated to making a difference. By building on our previous support, this gift will empower new generations of Black doctors to create a healthier and more equitable future for our country.”