Press Release

Institute Honors Benchmarking Survey Participants

Contact:
Institute for Diversity - (312) 422-2630
HR Solutions, Inc. - (312) 236-7170

Chicago

The Institute for Diversity in Health Management (Institute) last week honored participants in its "State of Health Care Diversity and Disparities: A Benchmark Study of U.S. Hospitals" at its 2010 National Leadership and Educational Conference.  This first-of-its-kind survey was designed to provide a snapshot of the hospital field's progress on promoting diversity and to help hospitals assess and improve their internal diversity programs.  The survey was created in partnership with HR Solutions, Inc., and funded by a three-year grant from the ARAMARK Charitable Fund at the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. 

"We were overwhelmed by the positive developments we saw in the hospital field with regard to diversity management and are eager to share the promising practices we have identified," said Fred Hobby, the Institute's president and CEO.  "It is our hope that, moving forward, this survey tool will provide a scorecard that hospitals can use to benchmark and improve their progress, as well as assess their impact on health disparities in their communities.  We are eager to re-field the survey in coming years to assess progress."

The survey assessed diversity initiatives in four categories:  expanding the diversity of the organization's governance body and leadership team; effectively engaging the diverse communities that the organization serves; strengthening a diverse workforce throughout the organization; and delivering culturally and linguistically competent patient care throughout the organization.

To view a list of organizations honored in each category, please click here. The Institute will share promising practices identified through the survey process with the field through case studies and other educational tools.

The survey tool was based on research included in "Strategies for Leadership," a diversity and cultural competency assessment tool the Institute created in conjunction with the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the American Hospital Association (AHA) and the National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL).  The survey also drew from recent work in the areas of culturally competent patient care, health care disparities and leadership conducted by The Joint Commission (in its Hospitals, Language, and Culture study) and the National Public Health and Hospital Institute's collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the Disparities Solutions Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.

About the Institute
The National Association of Health Services Executives, ACHE and AHA united to create the Institute for Diversity in Health Management in 1994.  The Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works closely with health services organizations and educators to expand leadership opportunities for ethnic minorities in health services management.  The Institute's mission is to increase the number of people of color in health services administration to better reflect the increasingly diverse communities they serve, and to improve opportunities for professionals already in the health care field.  To accomplish this, the Institute has designed several initiatives to generate significant long-term results through educational programs, summer internships, professional development and leadership conferences.  For more information, visit www.diversityconnection.org.
 
About HR Solutions, Inc.
Noted for its comprehensive research and actionable data, HR Solutions, Inc. is an international Human Capital Management Consulting firm located in Chicago, IL, specializing in Employee Engagement and Exit Survey design, implementation, and results. For more information, please visit our Web site, www.hrsolutionsinc.com, or call (312) 236-7170.

About AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.