Dr. Ala Stanford on stepping in when Black communities were struggling with COVID

Dr. Ala Stanford sat down with ABC News to discuss her mission to combat the health disparities affecting Black communities in her new book, "Take Care of Them Like My Own: Faith, Fortitude, and a Surgeon's Fight for Health Justice."

In 2020, pediatric surgeon Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, rented a van to visit church parking lots in her hometown of Philadelphia, where she administered COVID tests and vaccinations.

Stanford's new book documents her experience during the pandemic, emphasizing her ongoing commitment to addressing the inequities that disproportionately affect marginalized communities.

ABC NEWS: During the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, pediatric surgeon Dr. Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, rented a van and used it to visit church parking lots around her hometown of Philadelphia, where she'd administer COVID tests and vaccinations.

Her mission: to combat the health disparities affecting Black communities. In her new book, "Take Care of Them Like My Own: Faith, Fortitude, and a Surgeon's Fight for Health Justice," Dr. Stanford chronicles her pandemic experience and highlights her ongoing commitment to addressing inequities that disproportionately impact marginalized communities.

Joining us now is Dr. Ala Stanford. Thank you so much for being here.

DR. ALA STANFORD: Thank you for having me here. I'm excited.

ABC NEWS: I enjoyed reading the book. It really is part memoir, part manifesto. And I'm just curious what inspired you to write it?

STANFORD: For one, during COVID, we didn't know if we were going to see tomorrow. And someone asked me once what would make you in the middle of the pandemic run to the fire when everyone else was running from it? You had to know how I got to that point to understand the why, and that's why I wrote it.

ABC NEWS: One thing that really I found, there were so many things that I found fascinating. But Swamp Poodle, Pennsylvania, you say you have the actual average for the life expectancy is the lowest of anywhere else in this country. And so I want to just draw a straight line between race and economics and how that applies with health care.

STANFORD: Absolutely. So people always say health is wealth and so forth, right? Well, if you live in a community where you don't have an ambulatory care center, you don't have access to fresh food, you don't have good educational systems, then that impacts your health.

ABC NEWS: What would health equity in this country look like?

STANFORD: Honestly, it's the title of my book. It's taking care of people like your own. So it's really asking yourself: 'Is this what I would want for my mother, for my brother, for my child?' And if it's not something that's good enough for your loved one, it's probably not good enough for the patient you're caring for.

ABC NEWS: Another thing I found is so shocking: 5% of physicians in this country are Black? I thought that number would have been much higher. And so I'm just wondering how that then plays out as far as biases about Black patients.

STANFORD: So we know that one Black person doctor in a community improves health outcomes because it's the cultural sensitivity, the lived experience that educates your colleagues. And so when Black Americans represent 4.7% of doctors, but 14% of the population, the representation does not exist. When I graduated from medical school two decades ago, the percentage of Black doctors was 5%; 20 years later, it's 5%.

ABC NEWS: You talk about a number of the obstacles that you experience, the roadblocks, personally as well, even once you got into medical school. But beyond that, what do you think are some, some real tangible solutions to these disparities?

STANFORD: So. One. And this is not true for every student of color as they enter medical school, but many are from impoverished areas like I was. And so the the playing field is not level when you enter.

So I think having a nurturing environment for your student that's coming and is not surrounded by people who look like them and understand them culturally is necessary. The other thing that I would say is that on the admissions committees, when you're looking at the criteria, there also has to be representation there as well. And finally, we need, we in the field of medicine, need allies.

Meaning when something is said that's untoward to a resident by a nurse, where it's disrespectful that someone speaks out against that, because all of that ties into how well you, you're educated, how well you deliver care to others.

ABC NEWS: Dr. Ala Stanford, we thank you so much. Really a powerful book. "Take Care of Them Like My Own: Faith, Fortitude, and a Surgeon's Fight for Health Justice" is now available wherever books are sold.