The health care field has long faced stigmatization in following unethical practices and treatment of diverse patients. Implementing DEI strategies into the health care field isn’t just vital for company success, but for ensuring the health and wellbeing of all people in the future. This month, we recognize some of the health care companies that are putting in the work in their diversity, equity and inclusion practices:
ChristianaCare
Ranked as a top diversity company by Forbes and HealthCare TalentLink, ChristianaCare is a private hospital network predominately serving the east coast. In addition to providing great health care, ChristianaCare prioritizes diversity into their business model from hiring staff members of all different backgrounds to collaborating educationally on how to best treat a diverse array of patients. Since 2011, ChristianaCare additionally implemented their “Cultural Competent Patient-Centered Care” and “Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services,” which creates on ongoing effort to respond effectively to any language or cultural barriers that may arise.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Frequently featured as one of the top children’s hospitals in the country and an excellent place to work, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital goes out of their way to promote DEI in every aspect. They provide diversity training to their employees, are actively engaged in supplier diversity relationships, work to promote inclusive practices through community outreach and are actively pursuing a five-year strategic DEI plan that further elevates the importance of inclusion. Among their numerous awards as a top medical institution, Cincinnati Children’s has also earned top marks in their diversity practices. They have been recognized several times over by Forbes for being a “Best Employer” for diversity and women and a top performer for LGBTQ+ health care equity by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, a research-based biopharmaceutical company, goes above and beyond the standard for creating an inclusive workplace. They practice inclusive hiring throughout all of their positions, work directly with employees to create a custom work-life balance schedule, provide ERGs to benefit their diverse staff and have created programs to further promote their DEI plans. Additionally, their self-implemented, diverse slate program requires hiring managers to interview at least two diverse candidates from external sources for every job position and provide ERGs to boost inclusivity and employee morale. Gilead also created the Global Gender Identity and Transition Program, a support system for transgender and gender non-conforming employees within their company.
Mutual of Omaha (Medical Insurance)
A multiple time awardee of Forbes’ “Best Employers for Diversity,” Mutual of Omaha is a financial company specializing in health and life insurances. They pride themselves on providing the best quality health and life insurance policies to a diverse array of people and fostering a more inclusive workplace. In addition to the numerous ERGs they host, Mutual of Omaha has several diversity-focused workshops and programs that they offer. These programs include “Mutually Inclusive,” which works to bring people of different backgrounds together through fun non-work-related activities, and the “Advocacy and Advisory Council,” which brings in representatives from each department to speak on ways to further DEI strategies. Additionally, all managers are required to partake in diversity-centered leadership classes and all employees attend the “Mutually Connected” workshop for DEI training.
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Biotechnology company Thermo Fisher Scientific not only excels in providing research equipment to health care facilities, but in creating a workplace that prioritizes diversity. To increase representation within the STEM and health care sectors, Thermo Fisher has been adamantly working to put more women and people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds into leadership roles on a global scale. They create DEI objectives that are frequently reviewed, discussed and improved upon by a group of diverse leaders, practice diverse hiring and training practices and have established business resource groups to foster inclusivity among their employees. Thermo Fisher’s commitment to leadership diversity earned them a top 50 spot on Forbes’ “Best Employers for Diversity” list in 2023.
UCLA Health
UCLA Health is not only known for their outstanding health practices, but how they provide these practices to diverse communities. Through the institution’s Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Office (HEDI), UCLA Health is committed to providing the resources, workshops and services needed to understand health inequities amongst diverse groups and how to best combat them. These resources cover a variety of topics, from health disparities among specific communities and differences in treatment to how to work through language barriers in health care. UCLA Health is also active in community outreach programs that are designed to break down stigmas, spread anti-racism and anti-discrimination awareness and to further develop medical policies that limit opportunities for inequity and unconscious bias.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center not only wants to provide the best care to its diverse array of patients but to strengthen its diversity from within. Along with openly discussing the importance of diversity through their online publications, Southwestern Medical Center is the proud host of numerous diversity workshops throughout the year. In 2022, over 4,200 faculty members attended these workshops—further educating themselves in how to best treat patients of different backgrounds. But the health care facility’s dedication to diversity can best be seen through their hiring practices. As of 2022, women made up 66% of management positions and nearly 70% of the entire workforce—a rarity in leadership roles and in the health care field as a whole. People of color also hold a majority in Southwestern’s workforce, making up 47% of management positions and over 60% of all employees at the company.
University of Utah Health Care
Promoting diversity within your own organization is one thing, but ensuring a diverse medical field for the future is taking DEI to a whole other level. Along with having their own practices in diverse hiring and pursuing treatment practices for diverse clientele, the University of Utah is doing everything they can to ensure an equitable health care system for the future generations through three of their student-focused programs. Through the Health Sciences LEAP program, incoming medical students are required to take the “Health Professions for Minority, Underrepresented, and First-Generation Students” course to learn about the role diversity plays in the medical world. Students enrolled in this program are also given mentorship, research and shadowing opportunities to give them a head start in the field. The University of Utah also hosts its annual MEDiversity Week, which provides free classes and seminars around differing areas of health, medicine and diversity; and the Saturday Academy, which garners interest in the STEM fields in diverse students in grades 4-12.
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