Susan Ehrlich, MD, MPP
CEO
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
Shereef Elnahal, MD, MBA
President and CEO
University Hospital
Leon Haley Jr., MD, MHSA
CEO
UF Health Jacksonville
Lisa Harris, MD
CEO
Eskenazi Health
In the wake of 2020, health systems have begun to recognize racism as a public health crisis. The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and others, as well as the disproportionate impact of COVID-19, laid bare severe disparities afflicting communities of color.
This interactive session will feature leaders of four major health systems working to eliminate systemic inequities in their organizations. The panel will focus on the challenges these leaders face as they work to implement new policies and practices to build a diverse workforce at all levels, create an inclusive workplace culture, and eliminate health care disparities.
Mini Swift, MD
Vice President, Population Health
Alameda Health System
Ishwari Venkataraman
Principal
Adira Management Consulting
The intersectional nature of systemic and structural racism impacts every health system, perpetrating constant threats to the well-being, and in some cases the very survival, of patients, providers, and communities of color. To successfully serve all, we must focus targeted efforts on communities that have suffered the longest and deepest wounds from systemic racism.
In this session, speakers from Alameda Health System, in California, and Adira Management Consulting will discuss how to develop sustainable, systemic approaches to evaluating the state of health equity, diversity, and inclusion in your organization. Learn best practices for establishing a robust, ground-up initiative to advance these goals.
Attendees also will hear about a yearlong effort at Alameda involving more than 100 employees, physicians, and community members to establish a firm foundation to sustain and build on inclusivity strategies.
Sarah Heck, MBA
Assistant Operations Executive
UK HealthCare
Erika Chambers
Employee Engagement and Work Life Director
University of Kentucky
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Kentucky, UK HealthCare quickly pivoted to support staff by providing options for emergency child care through June. Care was again offered at an on-site center beginning in August to support virtual learning.
In this session, speakers will explore multiple strategies and options to support staff during the pandemic and beyond, including child care and care for school-age children. This presentation will discuss:
Karen Ziemianski, MS, RN
Senior Vice President, Nursing
Erie County Medical Center
Mary Rhinehart, MS, RN
Director, Critical Care Nursing Education
Erie County Medical Center
Nurses at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC), Western New York’s only level I adult trauma center, are no strangers to the rigors of high-acuity patients. But even the most seasoned nurses could not have envisioned themselves on the front lines of a pandemic. As COVID-19 cases spiked last year, so did the question of how to best support the whole nurse. When querying ECMC’s nurses, leadership discovered many challenges and opportunities to support front-line staff in a holistic manner. In this session, learn how ECMC used a variety of creative solutions to support the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of our caregivers.
Leon Haley Jr., MD, MHSA
CEO, Dean and Vice President of Health Affairs
UF Health Jacksonville
Learn how UF Health Jacksonville developed, filmed, and distributed more than 130 video segments in nine months to communicate across the hospital system about the COVID-19 pandemic, care delivery changes, and staff safety and morale. Led by the CEO, media relations team, and a videographer, this biweekly update quickly developed into daily updates because they were so effective. Staff received the most current information directly from the highest levels of leadership. As the pandemic progressed, this internal communication tool moved to external communication platforms so patients and families could better understand the work happening across the health care system, including care updates, patient resources, research, education, and community-sponsored events.
Lou Hart III, MD
Director of Equity, Quality, and Safety
NYC Health + Hospitals
Komal Bajaj, MD, MS-HPEd
Chief Quality Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi Medical Center
Eric Wei, MD, MBA
Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals
Linelle Campbell, MD, MS
Director of Equity within Quality and Safety
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi Medical Center
The COVID-19 pandemic made clear and exacerbated long-studied and documented health care disparities, which have disproportionately devastated low-income and Black, Latino, and indigenous communities across the United States. The subsequent national tragedies involving police brutality further highlighted the need to address these inequities within the essential hospital framework.
Because equity and quality are fundamentally linked, a health system first must focus on advancing equity within its workforce and mitigating health care disparities in the communities it serves to deliver on its promise of improving health care quality for all. By leveraging existing health care infrastructure, all can participate in institutional equity improvement work at multiple levels.
During this panel discussion, speakers will highlight a purposeful, iterative strategy deployed across NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal health system in the United States. Using existing quality and safety structures and applying an equity lens to performance improvement and safety systems, we can proactively confront health disparities upstream. The session will include polling, small-group work, and other techniques to engage attendees in the conversation.
Donna Leno Gordon RN, MS, Executive MPA
Staff Wellness Lead
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital Center
Geralda Xavier, MD, MPH, MBA
Chief Quality Officer
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County Hospital Center
“Second victims” are health care providers involved in an unanticipated adverse patient event, in a
medical error, or a patient-related injury who become traumatized by the event. The Helping Healers Heal (H3) program was implemented at Kings County Hospital Center, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to support staff left vulnerable after an unanticipated event or adverse patient outcome occurs.
With the spread of COVID-19 and subsequent state of emergency in New York, the H3 wellness team, with support from senior leadership, sought to expand program support into emergency operations to establish respite options, wellness events, nourishment and debrief/wellness rounds for staff.
Cynthia Bass, BS, MBA
Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Erie County Medical Center
Natalie Sleap, MA
Program Coordinator, Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Erie County Medical Center
Stacey Lawson, MS
Vice President, Human Resources
Premier Health
Adrian Taylor
Director, Diversity
Premier Health
Essential hospitals share a mission of ensuring health care for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. From patients to staff, essential hospitals recognize the importance of training, hospital culture, and accountability in achieving this goal.
Learn how leaders at Erie County Medical Center, in New York, worked with the hospital’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion to better understand what is necessary to secure equitable and inclusive care for LGBTQ patients and their families. Their work earned them designation as an LGBTQ Equality Top Performer by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Also in this session, speakers from Premier Health, in Ohio, will explore how retention, engagement, and employee experience are inextricably linked to culture. They will share practical tips and discuss strategy formulation and meaningful practices to ensure that diversity, inclusion, and equity are hardwired in your organization.
Sessions will focus on solutions to current public policy and financial issues unique to essential hospitals. Past topics have included Medicaid supplemental payments, waiver initiatives, telehealth policy, graduate medical education, and state-level 340B Drug Pricing Program policies.
Sessions will showcase new and promising programs that demonstrate groundbreaking initiatives in caring for vulnerable populations and ensuring equitable access to high-value care. Sessions may focus on innovative programs that integrate clinical practice into the health system’s overarching mission and goals, quality improvement, managing operations during a pandemic or other public health threat, and patient-centered care.
Sessions will target the hard and soft skills necessary to lead complex and evolving hospitals and health systems dedicated to serving their communities. Sessions may focus on lessons learned from leadership experiences and the importance of strategic partnerships, combating structural racism, culture change, reducing employee burnout, and climate resilience.
Sessions will offer expertise on improving the health outcomes for a group of individuals by engaging internal and external stakeholders to serve community needs. Sessions may focus on leveraging policies and procedures at the hospital, local, state, and federal levels to support community well-being; innovative financing models; cross-sector partnerships; and aligning community benefit investment with population health efforts. Programs and practices that address social determinants of health and ultimately aim to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care will be highlighted.
Questions?
Contact us at events@essentialhospitals.org
America’s Essential Hospitals
401 Ninth St. NW, Suite 900,
Washington, DC 20004
202.585.0100