Front row: Deborah Drayton, Maria Beatty
Second row: Svetlana Goldshteyn, Joan Miller, Alison Schlegel
Not pictured: Roxana Sanchez
Photo Credit: Security Supervisor Lieutenant Bryan Mell
In January, Pennsylvania Hospital’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee announced the new chairs for its six workgroups. Launched in 2020, the DEI Committee embraces and celebrates diversity in six key work spaces – Culture, Community, People, Research, Education, and Clinical. Together, the workgroups collaborate to promote justice, inclusion, and health equity both in health care, and beyond in PAH’s neighboring communities.
Meet the individuals leading these efforts, and read more about their developing projects and goals for their one-year terms.
Culture
Svetlana Goldshteyn, CPhT, MHA/MIS, Radiology Administrative Coordinator
How does culture influence DEI at PAH?
Learning about culture is so important; it’s what makes people who they are. I came to the U.S. as a 14-year-old girl from Ukraine and learned about cultures that were brand new to me. Through this workgroup, I also learn about culture in the workplace. As an administrator, I don’t directly work in clinical settings but I get to hear about clinical experiences through discussions with my fellow workgroup members. Having both nonclinical and clinical perspectives can help us assess what the overall culture is like, and allows us to create a stronger and even more supportive work environment.
Community
Roxana Sanchez, LSW, Social Worker for Clinical Resource Management
Why did you choose to join the Community workgroup?
My social work background aligns best with the goals of the Community workgroup in terms of partnering with community agencies and leaders and enriching the community. As a social worker, one of my fundamental values is to advocate for folks in need and empower them by connecting them to various community resources. As the daughter of a Spanish-speaking-only immigrant single mother, I have seen the limitations to accessing support as a result of the language barrier. One of my goals through my participation in the Community workgroup is to provide a platform for our workgroup members to have a voice and feel empowered to bring change to not only our fellow colleagues and patients at PAH, but also to the communities that we impact through our work.
People
Maria Beatty, MA, NCC, Clinician in Child & Family Outpatient Services
What is the People workgroup currently working on?
Our work pertains to recruitment, engagement, and retention of PAH employees. Part of this work is facilitating conversations within a department to discuss DEI in the workplace, such as discussing interpersonal conflict because of racial or gender bias. We all have an open conversation in a safe space to unpack and process the matter. It’s amazing to see how teams approach the discussion with cultural humility and ask each other questions to learn more about a topic.
Research
Joan Miller, MS, MPH, CPhT, Diversion Prevention Coordinator
What does the Research workgroup hope to accomplish by the end of the year?
We’ve been getting a sense of the research being conducted at PAH, and assessing the extent to which it is accessible to all, either as a participant or as a researcher. Within the year, we’d like to launch a mentorship program to grant access to research opportunities to people who have not traditionally had this access, whether that be guidance for joining clinical trials or gaining experience in conducting research, such as collecting data or contributing to literature reviews.
Education
Alison Schlegel, MSN, RN, CCCTM, MEDSURG-BC
What do you enjoy most about being part of the Education workgroup?
I’m lucky that the Education workgroup is a wonderful group of individuals who work hard to create and promote educational content surrounding DEI at PAH. I like to think of us as a small, but mighty group who want to impart change through education and knowledge. Our goal is to increase awareness of resources that are available to staff, such as the DEI Resource Guide, which lists reading materials to learn more about annual heritage and health observance months, and the Diversity Calendar, which consists of nationally recognized observances and celebrations of different cultures throughout the year.
Clinical
Deborah Drayton, EdD, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Clinical Director of Med-Surg & Oncology
What are some of the Clinical workgroup’s goals?
We hope to finalize our work on a response algorithm that supports staff when faced with patients who may request another provider based on race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. This is not an uncommon occurrence in health care. We want to guide staff and leaders on how to address this situation and provide an appropriate and meaningful response to patients. In addition, we will be partnering with the Research workgroup to identify health disparities that overlap in both clinical care and research.