Penn State Health must continue efforts against discrimination, town hall members say
Racial equity is one of the most important issues Penn State Health must tackle, said participants of the “Insight Into Our Identity: Race Relations and Inclusivity” town hall on March 4. Penn State Health has made progress toward eradicating racism and advocating for inclusion, they agreed, but more work must be done.
Watch the town hall, sponsored by the Penn State Health Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, here.
Lynette Chappell-Williams, Penn State Health vice president and chief diversity officer, said that since holding nine town halls to address racism last June, health system leadership has made diversity an organizational goal.
Some of the health system’s accomplishments during the last 10 months include establishing a systemwide patient bias prevention policy, amending the discrimination policy to include zero tolerance for discrimination, and establishing a policy that requires racial/ethnic and gender diversity in all management-level and faculty/physician searches. The health system also is requiring employees to participate in an online educational program about unconscious bias, microaggressions and upstanding. So far more than 60% of employees have completed that program.
“We will continue to ramp up our efforts to increase awareness of the negative impact of bias and discrimination on our employees and patients and build on the diversity we already have at Penn State Health,” said Chappell-Williams. “There is a lot more to come this year.”
One area participants discussed during the March town hall was the bias and discrimination experienced by Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Over the past year, more than 3,800 attacks against members of these communities have been reported nationwide. On April 28, Penn State Health will host a Day of Understanding to discuss diversity, including next steps for supporting Asian American and Pacific Islanders who are part of the community.
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