Hospitals in pursuit of excellence

Actionable Resources for Equitable Care

April is National Minority Health Month. In 2011, the AHA and four partners formed Equity of Care, a national collaborative effort to eliminate health care disparities. The Equity of Care website has a variety of terrific resources: videos of hospital leaders discussing their work providing care to diverse patient populations; a list of reports, toolkits and case studies on equity and diversity from the AHA and other organizations; and monthly blogs. A recent blog highlights the Summer Enrichment Program, sponsored by the Institute for Diversity in Health Management. This 10-week paid internship provides valuable experience for the minority, MHA graduate students who participate as well as for the health care leaders who mentor them. The Equity of Care initiative helps hospital and care system leaders focus on increasing the collection of race, ethnicity and language preference data; increasing cultural competency training for clinicians and support staff; and increasing diversity in governance and management.