AHASTAT blog: Hospitals pledge to eliminate health care disparities

More than 700 hospitals have signed onto the AHA’s #123forEquity Pledge to Act Campaign to eliminate health care disparities. “To meet the changing needs of their communities, hospitals and health systems are working hard to make sure that every individual receives the highest quality of care,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack wrote today in an AHASTAT blog post. “To achieve that goal as our nation becomes increasingly diverse, it is imperative that we redouble our efforts to identify and eliminate disparities in care.” The campaign seeks to build on and accelerate the efforts of the National Call to Action to Eliminate Health Disparities launched in 2011 by the AHA and other partner organizations. It focuses on increasing the collection and use of race, ethnicity and language preference data; cultural competency training; and diversity in leadership and governance. In addition to the more than 700 hospitals who have signed the pledge since it was first announced at July’s Health Forum-AHA Leadership Summit, a number of partner organizations have endorsed the campaign. For more on the campaign, visit www.equityofcare.org.