Huntington Hospital’s Pamela Weatherspoon presented at HASC’s most recent DEI roundtable event on July 8.

Huntington Hospital’s Pamela Weatherspoon was featured speaker at HASC’s most recent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Roundtable on July 8. 

Vice president, enterprise diversity, equity & inclusion at the facility, Weatherspoon led a wide-ranging talk on how to implement a hospital DEI program strategy, outlining steps and best practices along the way.

There’s no perfect or one size fits all road to DEI success, and DEI leaders need to stay patient and ready to learn throughout, she explained.

“None of us will ever be anointed with cultural competency,” Weatherspoon summed up. “(But) we can be on that journey – and on that journey we can be sensitive and culturally humble.”   

Weatherspoon discussed assessment tools and resources, and the importance of collecting and utilizing REaL (Race, Ethnicity and Language) and SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) data to measure quality and address disparities. She touched on how to launch a Diversity Supplier Program to support communities’ economic health and offered ways to strengthen and implement workforce diversity strategies that build more inclusive and equitable workplace cultures.

Weatherspoon also discussed other aspects of diversity, answering one listener question on the Human Rights Campaign’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) — a review of health care organizations’ policies and practices related to equity and inclusion for LGBTQ patients.

“It’s a roadmap that can help you be more affirming, sensitive and responsive to the LGBTQ-plus community,” she said of the survey. More than 1,700 facilities across the country have completed the HEI, as it’s known, with many sharing the designation on their website and publications, Weatherspoon noted.

Upcoming Roundtable Events

HASC’s ongoing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Roundtable series is set to continue into 2022. Speakers, dates and times will be shared as specific events are scheduled. 

All hospital management categories are invited to attend. CEOs, chief diversity officers, chief health equity officers, chief medical officers, chief human resources officers, and chief population health officers are all welcome.  

Learn more about HASC’s DEI initiative on the association’s webpage here.

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

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