Commentary

Do No Harm Senior Fellow Mark Perry Names the Mt. Sinai Health System in Civil Rights Complaints Filed with the NYC Commission on Human Rights

  • By Do No Harm Staff
  • September 1, 2023

The Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) in New York City continues to support race-based discrimination in its internal opportunities, despite municipal law that prohibits it. Under the City Human Rights Law, the City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has, in part, the “power to eliminate and prevent discrimination from playing and role in actions related to employment.”

Yet, the MSHS Office for Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) operates and funds the “Mount Sinai Administrative Fellowship Program,” prompting Do No Harm senior fellow Mark Perry to file a complaint with the CCHR. The salaried fellowship is offered to applicants who “self-identify as a member of a racial/ethnic group that is historically underrepresented in healthcare leadership – specifically Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Native American (American Indian or Alaskan Native), and/or Pacific Islander (one who has origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands).” This eligibility criterion, verified in the Administrative Fellowship Program application, illegally excludes Asian, white, and Middle Eastern/North African individuals on the basis of their race, color, or national origin.

Figure 1. August 23, 2022 email announcing the Mount Sinai Administrative Fellowship Program.

This is not the first time Perry has notified the CCHR of civil rights violations by Mt. Sinai. In June 2023, Perry filed a complaint regarding the Growth in Operations, Administrations, and Leadership Society (GOALS) program at the Icahn School of Medicine, “an elite Black male Initiative at Mount Sinai Health System that advocates for career advancement opportunities and equitable resources for its members.”

Figure 2. GOALS Program at Mt. Sinai Icahn School of Medicine.

These programs are reflective of other programs sponsored by the MSHS ODI. A concerned healthcare provider tipped us off to two ODI initiatives that place Black Lives Matter and anti-racism front and center. The United in Solidarity page features a book by Ibram X. Kendi, critical race theory proponent and author of “How to Be an Antiracist.”

Figure 3. “United in Solidarity” page at Mt. Sinai Health System.

And, the MSHS Icahn School of Medicine recently hosted “Ten Years of #BlackLivesMatter” on its monthly Chats for Change Zoom meetings schedule.

Figure 4. August 2023 “Chats for Change” at the Icahn School of Medicine.

Do No Harm urges the NYC Commission on Human Rights to investigate and resolve the discriminatory programs that the Mt. Sinai Health System is funding. We also encourage MSHS to shift its focus toward caring for all patients, students, and employees equally – regardless of skin color – and stop obsessively promoting racism and oppression in every facet of its operations.