Ahoskie Mayor Weyling White, left, and Hertford County Magistrate Deborah Morrison, right, pose for a portrait on railroad tracks that divide the predominantly White and predominantly Black parts of town in Ahoskie, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (Landon Bost for STAT)
From a small town in North Carolina to big-city hospitals, how software infuses racism into U.S. health care
Oct. 13, 2020
On assignment for STAT, a national news outlet produced by Boston Globe Media that reports on the frontiers of health, medicine and science, I traveled to Ahoskie, N.C. and photographed for an investigative story on how algorithms intended to target resources toward needy patients is instead infusing racial bias into decision-making. The unintentional bias walls of low-income Black and Hispanic patients from services that less sick white patients routinely receive.
Story by Casey Ross.
A railroad crossing sign sits on the side of Maple St. N in Ahoskie, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. The railroad company owns the tracks, but Mayor Weyling White has a vision to put a bike trail over them. (Landon Bost for STAT)
Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center practice administrator Weyling White listens during a productivity meeting at the center in Ahoskie, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (Landon Bost for STAT)
A general view of a residential neighborhood near Hertford County High School in Ahoskie, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (Landon Bost for STAT)
A general view of an abandoned house in a residential neighborhood near New Ahoskie Baptist Church in Ahoskie, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. (Landon Bost for STAT)
Hertford County Magistrate Deborah Morrison poses for a portrait at the sheriff’s department in Winton, N.C., Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (Landon Bost for STAT)