More than 40 participants came together to relate strategies and challenges on their paths toward more equitable care at Sept. 14’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Roundtable Discussion hosted by HASC and Darren Henson, PhD, director of operations with the American Hospital Association’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity.

Darren Henson of AHA’s Institute for Diversity and Health Equity helped guide Monday’s discussion.

The path towards greater diversity, equity and inclusion in health care can be winding and requires sustained commitment, Henson told attendees.

“You don’t just get there overnight,” Henson stated. “Diversity entails pipeline development and workforce development — not just recruitment but development in a way that’s mindful of the community itself.”

This week’s event was part of a continuing HASC effort supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, in health care. The focus is part of the national conversation on race and related issues that has taken place alongside this year’s COVID-19 pandemic.

Visit HASC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Resources page for a collection of resources — and list of trainings and events.

The pandemic may have served as a catalyst, but it has also slowed progress for certain DEI initiatives now underway in organizations, participant Paul Celuch of Avanti Health said.

“We’re at the beginning,” Celuch related. “There is a culture we want — we’re now at the point of defining how we get there.”

Sydney Davis of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles said another challenge is bringing personnel from multiple shifts, morning, afternoon and night, into the conversation. 

Susan Burrows of Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital said the facility has grown over the past five years with a plan to reflect its community. Specifically, MLKCH prioritizes hiring from a seven-mile radius of the facility.

“That policy has served us well as an organization,” Burrows said. 

HASC plans to support member organizations’ DEI initiatives with additional events and discussions, HASC Vice President, Human Resources and Education Services Teri Hollingsworth said this week.

“We feel we can move the needle together if we come together as a community,” Hollingsworth said.

Future HASC-hosted discussions are scheduled for Nov. 5, Jan. 7, March 4, May 6, July 8 and Sept. 2.

With questions, please contact HASC Workforce Development Program Manager Lisa Mitchell. 

Contact:
Lisa Mitchell
(213) 538-0722
lmitchell@hasc.org