BLOOM: Black Love Opportunity and Outcome Improvement in Medicine

Envisioning better care for Black babies and toddlers.
Black physicians double survival odds of Black infants and children.
Excellence in family and community partnership.
Support for Black health professionals.
Black providers face high rates of burnout, which is why BLOOM provides wellness support, access to diverse mentors, and a supportive learning environment for the entire team.
Meditation Moments with Mona

 

 

 

Welcome to BLOOM

At UCSF, we are changing the way care is delivered to Black families with children birth to age three in an environment that is safe and supportive. Families have access to a range of services in one convenient location. Black pediatricians, health educators, therapists, navigators, family support specialists and breastfeeding coaches work together to understand and address the needs and priorities of each patient and family. We take the time to get to know families and answer their questions. We align the care we provide with proven practices and rigorously assess the effectiveness of care. Plus we consistently provide training and education opportunities for students and trainees. Across every facet of our work, we partner with families from provider training to research to care design and implementation.

 

 

A BLOOM family. Dad is a Black man in a red hoodie sitting on the left with one twin standing on his leg. Mom is brown-skinned and in a green coat with long straight black hair, the other twin is sitting on her knee, looking back at Dad and his twin brother.

 

 

Our Connection to the Center for Child and Community Health at UCSF

 

The Center for Child and Community Health (CCCH) is the bridge between UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland and the broader community. CCCH strengthens the hospital's focus on community needs, health equity, disease prevention, and social justice. CCCH generates research related to the social drivers of health, trauma, resilience, and health equity and incubates innovative family-centered programs. CCCH collaborates across UCSF departments and campuses, and maintains strong partnerships with community organizations, educational institutions, and local and state policy makers. CCCH is a step that's both practical and symbolic, ensuring that UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland maintains and grows its commitment to the ideals of health equity, cultural humility, and community. 

Founded in 2019 by two community pediatricians, Drs. Dayna Long and Anda Kuo, CCCH unites community strengths and UCSF expertise in research, clinical care, policy, and education. With a focus on children, youth, and families disproportionately impacted by inequities, CCCH drives positive change for every child to live a full, vibrant, and healthy life. 

 

CCCH efforts are organized in three large-scale strategic initiatives. 

• The Social Drivers of Health Initiative promotes science-based and family-centered clinical practices on models to address social needs. 

• The Resilience Initiative builds the capacity of pediatric providers to address trauma, prevent toxic stress and build resilience. 

• The Ready to Learn: Early Success Initiative strengthens partnerships across child-serving systems to address early predictors of school readiness. 

 

BLOOM is a part of CCCH and are partners in addressing health inequity in the Black community here in the Bay Area. FINDconnect, another program under CCCH, works with BLOOM patients for resource linkage and referrals. To learn more about CCCH programs, follow this link.  

 

 

 

A Black doctor with blonde and black box braids using a stethoscope on a Black baby. The baby is held by a smiling Black mom.

BLOOM Resident, Dr. Jasmine Solola, working with a BLOOM family.