Desha Dickson

VICE PRESIDENT OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION AND COMMUNITY WELLNESS AT TOWER HEALTH

BY CHRISTINA J. STEFFY

PHOTO BY JOHN A. SECOGES, SECOGES PHOTOGRAPHICS

Desha Dickson loves working with the community, and she is a proud advocate for women and marginalized groups. Desha has worked with the Berks County community since joining Reading Hospital in 2011, and she will now expand her reach to all of the communities served by Tower Health.

Q:You’ve held the VP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion [DEI] and Community Wellness role at Tower Health since June 2022. This is a new role for you, but is it new for Tower Health?

The community health portion isn’t new; I’ve helped uplift the voices of marginalized groups in previous community wellness roles with Reading Hospital. The DEI portion as an official title is new. I’ve always done DEI work informally as part of my other roles, though. By officially making this part of the job, Tower Health has decided to be specific and intentional in its DEI efforts.

Q:What do you hope to accomplish in this role?

I want to bring awareness about why DEI work is necessary and the impact of doing and not doing this work. I also want to shed light on the commonalities among different community groups so we can all work together better. There’s also a fear about DEI initiatives that I want to eliminate. Ultimately, I want to create an inclusive community for employees and for patients. Everyone should feel comfortable coming to Tower Health for employment and care, and they should feel free to be their most authentic selves.

Q: Can you expand more on how you approach community wellness in your role?

Community wellness naturally includes DEI work, which is why I was always doing both in my previous roles. When I work with the community, I look for areas of disparity and pockets of access issues with various groups of people. It’s important to look at access from their perspective, not mine. What things do they perceive as barriers, even if I don’t perceive those same things as barriers? I want to find out what our communities need, and I look to them to find out. I ask, “What can we do for you?” rather than telling them, “Here is what we can offer you.” It’s also important to form partnerships with different groups. Knowing people isn’t the same as forming partnerships. You form a partnership when you cultivate a relationship and understand groups and what moves them.

Q:Your job sounds very rewarding, and it sounds like it keeps you busy. When you’re not at work, how do you relax and have fun?

My family and I love playing board games and card games. I also like cooking; in fact, I haven’t found a recipe I don’t like to cook. And I grew up near King of Prussia, so I like getting back to the mall and shopping.

Learn More

Tower Health network. The Reading Hospital and its associated offices are part of Tower Health, a healthcare system serving communities in Berks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

Career preparedness for high schoolers.

Ms. Dickson created an internship program at the Reading Hospital for Berks County high school students. Visit bewellberks. org/pathways-programs for more information.