| October 14, 2010 | Advertise | Join ASHHRA |  |
||
The State of Diversity: Assorted Authority in Health Care LeadershipNinety percent of executive and board of trustee-level positions in health care are held by white/Caucasian employees. This is only one of the findings from a recent benchmarking study, which was conducted by the American Hospital Association’s Institute for Diversity in Health Management (Institute) to track the management of diversity and disparities in health care. When paired with an understanding of diversity’s significance in health care, the Institute’s findings beg the question: What are health care organizations doing to promote diversity in leadership?According to the study, which was funded by a three-year grant from the Aramark Charitable Fund at the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, health care organizations are taking advantage of a variety of methods to identify qualified individuals from diverse racial and ethnic communities for leadership positions. The most common approach includes networking/proactive outreach attempts to professional associations. Of the 182 health care organizations that responded to the online survey, 80 percent use networking/proactive outreach to professional associations to identify potential candidates. Of those who replied affirmatively, 37 percent specifically cited the local Chamber of Commerce. "The benefits of networking to find diverse candidates for leadership and governance positions are numerous and enduring," said Fred Hobby, president and CEO of the Institute. "The institute itself used networking extensively when sourcing candidates for the American Hospital Association's recently launched Minority Trustee Recruitment and Training program. We were introduced to new contacts and additional professionals who became interested in becoming involved in other institute programs beyond those of our initial appeal. Approximately 70 percent of participating health care organizations take advantage of their relationships with local corporations and community leaders. Results indicated that only 30 percent of organizations use advocacy groups. The University of New Mexico Hospital, which the study listed as having one of the top-ten most diverse boards, indicated the use of networking/proactive outreach and of corporations/community leaders. The organization also focuses on additional diversity-promoting initiatives. "What we have done," said Jamie Silva-Steele, Administrator of Ambulatory Services, "is ensured that hiring managers have been trained in Equal Employment Opportunity and are aware of the unique needs to their patient population that may drive hiring diverse job candidates (i.e., bilingual or multilingual staff, etc.)." The University of New Mexico Hospital is not alone in choosing to use methods other than networking/proactive outreach attempts to professional associations, corporations and community leaders and/or advocacy groups; 15 percent of the study’s respondents said they use additional methods, as well, which range from advertisements, to personal relationships, to internal recruiting. Kevin Sheridan, CEO of HR Solutions, Inc., which created the study’s survey instrument and conducted the analysis of the results, explained the importance of being proactive in diversity promotions, regardless of the method. "Diversity in health care leadership is particularly important: A team made up of leaders from various ethnical backgrounds is able to reflect the diverse racial and ethnic communities of its patients," he said. The institute’s study indicated that black/African-American employees comprise the largest racial/ethnic group among health care leadership after white/Caucasian employees. Black/African-American employees comprise approximately 8 percent of leadership teams; they are followed by Hispanic/Latino employees at 5.5 percent. Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander employees are the least represented ethnic group, comprising only 0.25 percent of executive and board of trustee-level individuals. However, the survey results highlight that health care organizations are making progress. In the 12 months prior to the study, health care organizations had an average of 4.7 executive-level vacancies, 2.7 of which were filled with minorities or females. Additionally, the majority of respondents indicated that they had hired or promoted a female or minority for 55 percent of executive-level vacancies in the past 12 months. This illustrates that health care organizations trying to promote diversity in their workforce are producing successful results. As organizations continue along this path, the health care field will experience the benefits of diverse leadership and will become more representative of the people it serves. "It seems that everyone is interested in the future direction of health care," said Hobby. "As we raise awareness about the diversity activities emerging in the health care field, organizations are continuing to pledge their support." Kristy Erdodi is an independent marketing, communications and public relations consultant for HR Solutions, Inc. She can be reached at kristy.erdodi@gmail.com or 248-931-1497. |
Print this article
 |
155 North Wacker, Suite 400 Chicago, IL 60606 Ph.: 312.422.3720 Fax: 312.422.4577 E-mail: ashhra@aha.org Website: www.ashhra.org |