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LOWER MERION — The American Hospital Association (AHA) has selected Main Line Health as the 2024 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity in Care Award Transformation recipient for developing and implementing strategies to advance equity in the community.
Main Line Health and the two other Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award recipients will receive the award at the AHA Leadership Summit, July 21-23 in San Diego.
“Recognizing us the year after honoring our health system with the AHA Quest for Quality award is a milestone that showcases our long-standing track record of progress in diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Dr. Roseangelie Cruz Rojas, executive vice president and chief diversity and equity officer for Main Line Health. “At Main Line Health, health care is human care, and I congratulate all of our employees who contributed to this recognition. Of course, there is much more work to do, but we are committed to continuing on this path.”
In announcing the award June 5, the AHA listed numerous initiatives by Main Line Health.
To ensure a personalized care experience from the start, Main Line Health conducts thorough interviews to learn a patient’s preferred title, name, languages spoken and other demographic data, as well as discussing visiting hours, dietary requirements and access to patient advocates.
Continuous improvement of the patient care experience, a top priority for Main Line Health, is achieved through employee training programs and accountability measures to ensure patient experience goals permeate all levels of the organization.
Initiatives such as diversity, equity and inclusion training for all employees and leaders, as well as implementing employee resource groups, lunches and learns and listening circles, contribute to a culture focused on providing equitable care and cultivating a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
Main Line Health’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is embodied in its workforce representation and community collaboration, which is evident in diversity and representation on its board of directors, in leadership roles and among its physicians, and in creating more internal pathways for entry-level employees. Main Line Health stratifies more than 100 quality and safety metrics by race, ethnicity, language, gender, age, zip code and other characteristics, embeds health equity metrics and initiatives into clinical settings and service lines, and holds senior leaders and the board accountable.
Additionally, Main Line Health has partnered with the Together for West Philadelphia coalition to foster collaboration between health care organizations and community organizations. Main Line Health is addressing social factors that impact health through programs such as stroke education targeted to vulnerable communities and expanding its workforce of community health workers to fill social support gaps for patients discharged from the hospital.
“Unfortunately, disparities in care in health care are something many in this country experience,” said Jack Lynch, FACHE, president and CEO of Main Line Health. “At Main Line Health, along with our colleagues at the American Hospital Association, we are committed to identifying these disparities and doing all we can to eliminate them. We are very proud of the progress we’ve made so far, but as Dr. Cruz Rojas said, there is still much more to be done.”
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