Emergency room physician, Dr. Nana Afoh-Manin, co-founded My CovidMD, a company that brings free telehealth to poorer and underinsured people and connect them to health resources.
Her company recently organized a free pop-up testing facility offering antibody blood tests for those who needed it.
Freddie Joyner has more.
Dr. Nana Afoh-Manin, an emergency room physician at a busy Los Angeles hospital, saw the effect the novel coronavirus was having in her community, and specifically to minorities nationwide - and decided to do something about it.
With two of her fellow African-American female colleagues, she founded a company, My CovidMD, to bring free telehealth to poorer and underinsured people and connect them to health resources.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. NANA AFOH-MANIN, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN AND CO-FOUNDER OF MYCOVIDMD, SAYING: "You know the old saying, you know, when America catches a cold, black America catches the flu.
And this is an issue of our social determinants of health.
It's an issue of our healthcare inequality.
And we talk about right now in our nation it's the first time in our history, my generation, that is dealing with a public health crisis that requires all of us, the 'we,' to be in effect.
But when you're dealing with marginalized communities who have been disaffected, it's hard to get them on board because, hey, they're like, oh, we've been here, we've been having problems and no one cared about us when it was affecting us.
And now when it affects everybody, we're supposed to get on board.
So building that trust is so important right now..." On Friday, the company organized a free pop-up testing facility offering antibody blood tests, which show if a person has a current or previous COVID-19 infection.
Evonne Fod Ozoani, a resident of south Los Angeles, said she was following state and local guidelines for avoiding infection, but just wanted to know if she already had the virus.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) EVONNE FORD OZOANI, LIVES IN SOUTH LOS ANGELES, SAYING: "We're practicing social distancing, washing our hands and wearing our face masks, but what does that tell me?
What does that tell me about my condition?
I just want to know my status." Over a hundred tests were administered at the drive-through facility Friday - helping those already exposed to the virus, those with underlying health conditions as well as the uninsured or underinsured people with no other means to receive a test.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. NANA AFOH-MANIN, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN AND CO-FOUNDER OF MYCOVIDMD, SAYING: "I say this to America, when you're talking about marginalized communities, there is no such thing as a margin...It's not an issue about haves vs the have nots, it's basic healthcare.
And if we can just agree on that, we're going to be a better, stronger and more beautiful and kinder America after this."
