Too few hospitals, ambulatory facilities and health systems have strategies that are robust enough to ensure diversity in their leadership and to establish their position as an employer of choice. Executives and board members may question whether it’s even necessary to create a “strategy.” They say, “We are already diverse. We reflect our community and we receive plenty of praise for our outreach.”
It takes astute leaders to respond, “Every major company needs to have a diversity strategy—not just because it’s the right or popular thing to do—but because they want to be an employer of choice.” A multiyear plan to expand diversity and inclusion is as essential a business priority as implementing financial controls and managing quality improvement. Like all best practices, a successful program requires transparency, data and shared accountability.
Commentary by Stephen Jones, Modern Healthcare, October 24, 2018