Eight months have passed since the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (OIDE) launched the Action for Cultural Transformation (ACT) plan to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of the health system and Perelman School of Medicine. Though it will take time to eliminate injustices and build an anti-racist organization, the process is well underway, and we have built great momentum across Penn Medicine, including at Pennsylvania Hospital.
The OIDE recently identified 160 priority actions for the fiscal year based on feedback from focus groups, surveys, and town hall dialogues, during which more than 5,500 faculty members, staff, researchers, students, and other Penn community members shared their voices and experiences. These “just do it” initiatives range from leveraging the COBALT mental health platform to provide resources for diversity and inclusion, to training leaders to identify and manage microaggressions. Longer-term planning also continues, engaging faculty, staff, and students across the institution.
At Pennsy, we’re making great strides, and we continue to align our local efforts with the system-wide ACT strategies. The workgroups we created to align with the ACT’s thematic areas — clinical, research, education, community, culture, and people — are regularly meeting and working with members of the Executive Leadership Team to craft our hospital’s diversity, inclusion, and equity goals. Over the coming weeks, these goals will be shared with the entire hospital community so we can begin taking the necessary steps to adjust our practices and policies and create substantive, sustainable change.
If you have not been able to volunteer your time to a workgroup or share your voice during a town hall yet, there will be many additional opportunities to help advance our hospital and institutional goals. For example, if you have not yet completed your mandatory unconscious bias training on Knowledge Link, please plan to take this fundamental first step by April 1, 2021.
I am deeply grateful that so many members of the Pennsy community have committed themselves to this movement. I am proud to work alongside individuals who are invested in addressing disparities, fostering inclusivity, and strengthening the community within our walls and outside of them.