8 health systems join new health equity initiative 

Eight health systems have joined a new American Medical Association health equity initiative that provides mentorship and networking, the AMA reported June 20. 

Through a collaboration with the Joint Commission and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, the AMA created the AMA Advancing Equity through Quality and Safety Peer Network. The program runs for a year and provides participating health systems with networking and mentorship to embed equity into the systems' practices and improve the health equity of patients, healthcare workers and the community. 

Here are the first eight organizations, representing about 20,000 physicians who have joined the program:

1. Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.)
   
   
2. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
   
   
3. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston)
   
   
4. Ochsner Health (New Orleans)
   
   
5. University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (Iowa City, Iowa)
   
   
6. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston)
   
   
7. University of Wisconsin Hospitals & Clinics (Madison, Wis.)
   
   
8. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.)