Advocating for Equity

Roadmap to Transformative Equity

At Atrium Health, leadership at all levels and regions of the organization are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion. In fact, it’s central to our business and culture as demonstrated by our mission: to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all. Our Diversity Agenda centers on advancing equity and outlines our bold goal – to achieve transformative equity for patients, teammates, learners, and communities by 2025. This framework acts as the guiding philosophy through which diversity initiatives are developed and implemented across the enterprise.

With over 70,000 teammates, our most powerful resource is our workforce. We acknowledge and celebrate this by cultivating an equitable and inclusive culture. Our Culture Commitments serve to break down barriers to communication, understanding, access, and opportunity. “We recognize the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion through our culture commitments. One of our foundational culture commitments is to “create a space where all belong,” said Fernando Little, VP & Enterprise Chief Diversity Officer.

One of the ways we do so is by leveraging our Diversity Infrastructure. It includes regionally based diversity councils, system resource groups (SRGs), faculty and champions who work to enhance belongingness and cultural competence for our teammates. They are empowered to act as facilitators, educators, strategy partners, mentors and coaches serving to keep the “for all” part of our mission statement alive.

Our nine SRGs – including groups for multicultural physicians, minority men, women leaders, veterans and more – celebrate what makes their members unique. They are open to members of the primary affinity but welcome all teammates. These groups further serve as stakeholders for the organization at large, with the power to transform culture. We invite them to be our partners, challenge the status quo and urge us to do better.

Leaders and teammates across the enterprise work tirelessly to foster a culture that is welcoming for all. Our approach spans all levels, departments and facilities. Furthermore, we recognize that a strategic focus on inclusive hiring helps build trust right from the beginning.

To ensure the candidate experience conveys inclusivity throughout, our Diversity Equity & Inclusion (DEI) and Talent Acquisition teams recently worked to revamp our hiring practices. This work included creating an Inclusive Hiring Toolkit, implementing relevant training for hiring leaders and developing strategic recruitment goals – like increasing diverse candidate slates and expanding talent sources.

Our organizational strategy, Impact 2025, outlines our pursuit to optimize our platform, extend health impact, and invent the future. Specific targets include ensuring management reflects the diversity of our patients, boosting the exposure of diverse managers and increasing our spend with minority suppliers.

We regularly monitor all available data to understand if we are as inclusive as we think. Additionally, we lean on the “voice of our teammates” to understand if specific groups are experiencing things differently. If identified, we take action to address the root cause of gaps and make course corrections.

In 2021, we worked to increase our organizational DEI-related measurement and accountability capacity. This required that all executives complete an introspective survey and a learning module on racial equity and inclusive leadership. Executives also met with DEI team members to review their custom diversity dashboard and discuss relevant insights. Later, they created DEI-specific goals informed by this process.

As a support vehicle for this work, Atrium Health provides educational opportunities and activities throughout the year. Our signature FOR ALL Conference is a cultural mainstay of Atrium Health. Each year the conference attracts speakers and educators from across the nation, who help attendees recognize their biases and inspire them to affect systems and processes for the benefit of all.

By hosting this annual learning forum, we aim to elevate cultural competency across the enterprise, enhance care delivery, cultivate an inclusive and equitable workplace and learning environment and uplift the communities we serve. P