In 2018, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) released a report that ranked Springfield the most challenging metropolitan area in the U.S. to live with asthma. Springfield also had the tenth highest asthma rate of 100 cities surveyed and the highest rate of emergency room visits due to asthma-related illnesses.
At the time, Dr. Matthew Sadof, a pediatrician at Baystate Medical Center and a member of the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition said, “This report that came out and the data that was just presented should be viewed as a call to action. This is about health equity, this is about access, this about lost wages, this is about poverty.”