San Diego Black Health Associates

The San Diego Black Health Associates, Inc. was formed by African American health care professionals in 1978.   Originally the group was organized by James A. Forde as the San Diego Black Health Executives organization, in response to the disturbingly poor health status and problems that Black families faced with access to resources. (Mr. Forde proceeded to become the first African American Director of Public Health in the County of San Diego).

Thirty years later, African Americans in San Diego suffer from similar high rates of illness and death. Prominent among these problems are hypertension, heart disease, cancer, drug addiction, low birth weight for newborns, and high infant mortality.

Mission and Goals  

The mission of the SDBHA is to enhance the health status of African Americans in San Diego County. Toward this end, the goals of the organization include:

• Organize human resources to promote wellness and health within our communities

• Provide a forum to examine factors and forces that influence the health status of African Americans

• Design and promote public policies that address barriers to access for direct service programs for the target community

• Develop programs that provide information, activity and motivation to improve the health status of African Americans in San Diego County

• Promote opportunities for professional growth and development of our members

• Demonstrate support for successful programs that clearly demonstrate improvements in the health status of our communities

• Serve as a clearinghouse for documenting health status information for African Americans in San Diego