b'Pierre Chanoine, pediatrician After the pandemic, Dr. Chanoine said, the BDCC will become a health advocacy organization to When Dr. Pierre Chanoineaddress inequality in healthcaremaking sure thinks about the biggest chal- that all people have access to doctors, hospitals, lenges he faced during themedicine, and other medical help. In that way,pandemic, he remembers onehe said, we can address some of the disparities 24-hour vaccination day inthat exist. North Philadelphia. In his own medical practice, where he cares for Dr. Chanoine was part of achildren, Dr. Chanoine said the pandemic helped volunteer medical team thathim concentrate on getting back to basics. Early vaccinated more than 4,000on, he and his staff tried to peel back and make people that day. He said it felt overwhelming to seesure that taking care of our patients was the so many people standing in line in a parking lotprimary thing, that everyone was safe. Keeping waiting. There was such a need, that most peoplethings simple will serve my practice, Black Doctors [volunteering] there felt a deep responsibility toCOVID Consortium, and all of us.make sure that everyone was taken care of. During the past year, he said, changes at work and He joined the Black Doctors COVID Consortiumat home included a lot of online meetings and, as (BDCC) because he wanted to reach out andwith so many other families, having his children at be of service to others. The health group washome on school days. founded in Philadelphia by pediatric surgeon Dr. Ala Stanford in April 2020 to provide free testing. The doctors realized that the COVID pandemic was harming Black and brown people more than people in other groups, said Dr. Chanoine. Later, the doctors began providing COVID vaccines. Illustration by Jordan Martin-Johnson, fourth grade, Whitehall Healthy Reporter20'