CRH has worked on DEI initiatives for many years, though these efforts have often been designed to address a specific healthcare access need. Examples include the launch of Volunteers in Medicine (now VIMCare Clinic) in 1996 to provide healthcare services to uninsured/ underinsured residents and Proyecto Salud to address language and cultural barriers for Hispanic patients.
I believe that DEI should be woven into our organizational culture, strategic plans and daily operations, and not viewed as an initiative or program. CRH’s DEI approach is multi-pronged. Our goal is to develop a framework and strategy to ensure that 1) our health system workforce is appropriately diverse and culturally competent, 2) equitable patient care is always provided and delivered, and 3) both the care and work environments are inclusive.
In 2021, we selected an outside partner, CulturaLink of Atlanta, GA, to conduct an organizational assessment of CRH. The assessment focused on organizational culture and communication, workforce policies and practices, physician recruiting and cultural competence, patient care practices and language access, data collection processes and community engagement.
Through this assessment and many conversations regarding DEI, we learned people interpret DEI differently, and a critical success factor was DEI definition clarity and continual transparent communication of strategy to our workforce and community. The CRH DEI Steering Committee first defined what diversity, equity and inclusion each means to our health system. Next, an overall DEI vision statement was created.
I look forward to building on the work underway and to keep conversations and learning about DEI going throughout the process. Through this work and the broader efforts from the many community organizations and individuals working to advance DEI, we will all help our community be more equitable and inclusive.
