DIVERSITY EQUITY & INCLUSION

The DEI Journey: Opening Doors Through Communications and Partnerships

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation in April recognized Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada as an “LGBTQ+ Health Care Equality Leader” at the highest level of support.  It is the first and only hospital in its state designated with a perfect score.

The Healthcare Equality Index is the nation’s foremost benchmarking survey of health care facilities on policies and practices dedicated to the equitable treatment and inclusion of LGBTQ+ patients, visitors and employees. As the largest nonprofit health system in northern Nevada, Renown serves more than 1 million people in a catchment area that stretches from Sacramento to Salt Lake City.

“Everyone in the region looks to us as a thought leader,” says Cristal Herrera Woodley, Renown’s director of marketing, communications & customer engagement.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation honor recognized the organization’s ongoing commitment to increasing LGBTQ+ equity throughout its hospitals, urgent care facilities, medical practices and other community locations. Beginning in 2018, Renown developed a partnership with the Transgender Allies Group of northern Nevada, seeking insights on policies, protocols and environmental design approaches that would make patients and families who come to its facilities feel more welcome regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“We wanted to ensure that we were offering a safe environment where everyone feels like they will be taken care of,” says Herrera Woodley. “We focused on updating our fundamental policies, training our physicians and other clinicians on patient-centered care and an understanding of LGBTQ+ health issues, offering inclusive patient services and support and engaging with patients in our community as well as human resources initiatives around employee benefits and policies.”

Herrera Woodley and Renown will be sharing their approach to diversity, equity and inclusion, known collectively as DEI — and how the system aligned these initiatives with its community sponsorship program — during the Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) Connections Conference, to be held Sept. 11-14, in National Harbor, Maryland, and in an accompanying podcast.

Over the past several years, Renown has provided substantial support and awarded grants to area organizations addressing diversity and inclusion, LGBTQ+ community Pride events and collaboration with LGBTQ+ organizations as an ally.

“We have been able to grant funds to organizations that promote LGBTQ+ initiatives for mental health, substance abuse, physical activity and other health issues,” Herrera Woodley says. “It’s all about benefiting our community and reducing health disparities.”

While promoting LGBTQ+ initiatives in their community, the health system has implemeted initiatives in their own facilities by:

• Updating patient medical records with preferred name and pronouns. “A person’s name and identity are core to who they are as a person, and Renown aims to take care of the whole person,” Herrera Woodley says.
• Creating nearly 50 gender-neutral restrooms across Renown’s campuses. “Ensuring that private restrooms are equally available to everyone is just one way we can provide a more inclusive, caring space for the people we serve,” Herrera Woodley says.
• Ensuring that policies allow visitors without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity. Renown’s visitor policy, inspired by family members, encourages two family members per day to visit a loved one hospitalized at Renown.
• Providing training in LGBTQ+ patient-centered care for all staff.
• Adding both sexual orientation and gender identity to the patient non-discrimination policy and Renown’s employment nondiscrimination policy.
• Offering transgender-inclusive health care benefits to employees and members of Renown’s not-for-profit health plan, Hometown Health.

Renown’s commitment to LGBTQ+ health is just one part of its larger focus on DEI.  According to Herrera Woodley, “Renown has taken the stance that we will provide equal access to the best-quality care in an environment of respect for all of our patients, regardless of their background. Our Community Benefit Partnership program, now in its third year, supports and partners with more than 160 community-based organizations, schools, and human and social service agencies. In 2021, we gave $145,000 each to 55 nonprofit organizations with projects aiming to increase the presence and participation of women, racial and ethnic minorities, LBGTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people of low socioeconomic status and other underrepresented groups.”

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Renown recognized that many of the people in the Hispanic communities it serves may have avoided seeking testing, vaccination or medical care because of fear of deportation.

“No one’s legal status should prevent them from getting access to quality health care,” Herrera Woodley says. “So, we partnered with local churches, where the community trusts their pastors and priests, to provide tests and vaccines on site at their locations, so people didn’t necessarily have to go into a hospital and provide additional documentation. This gave them a safe space to get the care they needed.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion is focused on the cultural aspect of how we take care of people,” she adds. “We constantly strive to ensure that we respect race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity — all of which helps us achieve the goal of reducing any type of health disparities.”

Learning More

• Register for SHSMD Connections 2022 in person conference this September in DC to and be sure to add-on this workshop, “The DEI Journey: Opening Doors through Communications and Partnerships" to hear from Cristal Herrera Woodley and others.

This article features interviews with:

Cristal Herrera Woodley
Director, Marketing, Communications & Customer Engagement
Renown Health

image credits: istockphoto.com/frantic00, Gerd Altmann from Pixabay