AHA co-hosts regional meeting for hospital leaders on human trafficking

AHA’s Hospitals Against Violence initiative, Jones Day and HEAL Trafficking (Health, Education, Advocacy, Linkage) hosted Forced Labor in Health Care Supply Chains: What Hospital Leaders Need to Know, an event in New York where speakers from Northwell Health shared practical information and resources to help health care providers prevent human trafficking, with a focus on health care supply chain issues.

Santhosh Paulus, M.D., senior program director, and Wilonda Green, program manager, for the Northwell Health Human Trafficking Education, Advocacy, Response & Training Program described the effective and compassionate program to identify and prevent trafficking victims in its patient population, as well as Northwell’s journey to develop a Supply Chain Forced Labor Program.  

Paul Kaufman, Northwell Health vice president and deputy general counsel, and Jones Day attorneys Bethany Biesenthal, Taylor Goodspeed and Julia Feldman discussed the nation’s anti-trafficking law, trends in compliance and government enforcement, and diligence and disclosure risks, especially as they relate to environmental, social and governance standards. The speakers provided external counsel and in-house attorney perspectives and practical approaches to mitigating trafficking-associated risks. 

Mike Schiller, senior director of supply chain for the AHA’s Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management affiliate, also presented at the event.