HealthLinksSC.com | 67 CHARLESTON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY HealthLinks Charleston is a proud partner of the Charleston County Medical Society. For more information on joining CCMS, contact Dana Holladay at [email protected]. Dr. Bell said COVID was devastating for the Black community, in part because the virus was worse for people with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and obesity, issues that affect Blacks at higher rates than other ethnicities. “The pre-existing conditions were issues the Black community had already been dealing with way before COVID hit. Those were all major health disparities already identified with Blacks,” he said. “Not to mention just how stressful 2020 was in general for the Black community due to the George Floyd riots,” he added. “All of that converged at the same time. It caused so much stress and depression.” He also noted the disparity with education in the Black community when many of the schools went on lockdown: “That really set back our Black kids.” Dr. Bell pointed out that COVID hasn’t really been defined. “We still don’t have a firm grip of what long COVID really is. We do know that it can cause up to 200 different symptoms,” Dr. Bell explained. “COVID has caused a lot of permanent medical issues in the underserved population, like heart disease, mental illness, cancer, disability and kidney disease.” He said that he has heard from many of his patients about doctors who “blew them off” when they had unusual symptoms. Dr. Bell believes the solution to this problem is more Black physicians. “When Black people are taken care of by Black doctors, the outcome is usually better,” he said. Dr. Bell works hard to educate the Black community, appearing in TV and radio ads to promote the importance of being vaccinated. “I’m dealing with so many people who think COVID is over. Decreased? Yes. But we still have an increase in the amount of illness and deaths in Black people,” Dr. Bell said. He also works with Urban Radio to disseminate information throughout the state about health issues that affect younger members of the Black community, and, along those lines, he participates in a podcast in Charleston on Z93 Jamz called “Keeping it Real with Dr. Bell” on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “Closing the Gap in Health Care has been recognized in the community, and we will continue to put good information out for people to use,” Dr. Bell said. It’s a message that rings true and as clear as a bell. To learn more, visit closingthegapinhealthcare.org.
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