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- Welcome everyone,
to the Becker's Healthcare podcast series.
I am Mariah Mohammed, writer
and moderator with Becker's Healthcare.
I'm absolutely thrilled to have with me today, Anne Dowdell,
vice President and Chief Diversity and Equity
and Inclusion Officer for Houston Methodist.
Uh, it's very nice to have you on the
podcast today. How are you?
- I'm doing fine, thank you. How are you
doing? Thanks for having me. Good.
- Yes, absolutely. I know you've been on our podcast before
and it's so nice to have you back.
Um, to get us started,
would you mind please sharing a quick introduction
and a overview of your role?
- Sure. So as you mentioned, my name is Arian Dowdell.
I'm the Vice President and Chief Diversity Equity
and Inclusion Officer for all
of the Houston Methodist Hospitals.
Um, in my role as DEI officer.
Um, just to give a little context,
our department was actually formed back in the
summer of 2020.
And so in my role, I'm actually responsible
for leading the vision for unparalleled safety,
quality service
and innovation through the lens of diversity, equity,
and inclusion, which really means, um, leading
through system-wide, DEI strategies
and implementations with our key partners both
internally and externally.
So that includes different events
and programs around, uh, our employees,
our patient experience, as well
as our external DEI relationships and grants.
And then also a lens on health equity as well.
- Yeah, wonderful. Thank you so much
for giving us that overview.
So to really get into, uh, our topic
and discussion for today, the first thing I wanted
to ask you is how do you think the healthcare DEI landscape
has changed over the past year or so?
There have been many things that have changed in
society-wise and organization-wise since your organization
has started it's DEI journey.
- Yeah, you know, I think for us, we really, uh,
were strategic in how we laid out and thought about DEI.
And I think for a lot of, uh, healthcare organizations
and just in general in various industries, DEI has evolved.
But for our department
and at Houston Methodist, we wanted to make sure
for like the first, you know, one to three years
that we started this department, we spent a lot
of time around awareness.
You know, that was our awareness building time.
And now that we're past year three
and moving on, we're thinking about what's next for us.
And that really is where you start to think about
how do we embed those teachings
and learnings into our primary business goals
of our organization.
Um, and we feel like we're really at
that point now where we can do that.
So, you know, the first couple
of years we were building our employee resource groups.
We were awarding the first of our $25 million grant, uh,
for diversity, equity and inclusion and health equity.
And now that's shifting a little bit.
So we have data now, which we didn't have years ago,
and we can look at outcomes, um,
including our employee engagement and retention
and promotions, um, to see how we're evolving
to make sure the work we did
and the foundation we laid for those first three years
is really coming to fruition.
So, um, you know, I say sometimes
that if I change the words diversity, equity, and inclusion
and change it to any other three words, the work we still do
would be the same and the need is still there.
So I think it's been a challenge for some organizations.
I'm thankful that at Houston Methodist, you know,
the work we do is still at the forefront of everything we do
and it's aligned with our eyecare values
and our goal to always stay ahead with innovation
and keep that at the forefront of our patient care.
- Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much
for giving us that insight.
And like I said,
a lot has changed over the past couple years.
What do you think is the biggest opportunity
for healthcare organ organizations when it comes to DEI?
- You know, I think there's a lot, you know, as you said,
the landscape has changed.
A lot of organizations have taken a huge hit, right?
Whether it's from downsizing to mandated requirements, um,
but not enough resources.
But I think, um, one of the biggest opportunities is
for organizations to understand that DEI has
to remain a core business imperative in all that we do.
Um, and the big thing is understanding
that the work we do doesn't cost anything, right?
There's not a dollar figure associated with making sure
that we're providing opportunities to people
to grow within the organization
or making sure that we're understanding the individuality
that comes with everyone.
So there's a lot that we do when you think about DEI
that really doesn't cost anything.
And so I think that's one of the things
that we've lost focus on.
I also think one of the biggest opportunities
for healthcare organizations when I think about this is
to make sure that their DEI leaders
have truly an opportunity to be at the forefront
of the change that's happening.
Because without that, and with so many DEI leaders
actually not staying in positions more than two years,
it's become, you know, increasingly difficult.
Um, and I'd also say the political landscape, you know,
makes things tough as well with new requirements,
not enough resources for organizations, they're struggling
to figure out health equity, um, and how to move forward
and make changes in patient access
and patient outcomes if they don't have the resources.
And so I think there's a lot of different things
that we have to think about, you know, as organizations
to make sure that we do keep it at the forefront of
what we do because the reality is that our patients as well
as our employees, have options right when it comes
to healthcare at this point.
And so this really needs to continue to be at the forefront
of the work that we do every day.
- Yeah, I completely agree. Agree.
Would you be able to share a few programs
or initiatives Houston Methodist is focusing on
as we enter 2024?
- Sure. You know, we have a couple of things
that we're super excited about.
I'll name maybe just a few for you,
but one of the things we're very proud
of is our DEI Summer Scholars Program.
We're going into our third year
and we've awarded, um, money to students
to do a 10 week program.
And so those are for non, uh, clinical careers in healthcare
and they're for rising juniors and seniors.
So we're excited to go into this third year
and see that momentum continue.
We also are focusing on our physicians
and our physician communication going into 2024.
And what's really nice about that is that we're partnering
with a lot of different departments,
including our spiritual care department, our quality
and patient safety, and other groups
around the organization, uh, to make sure
that when patients come in, even that communication piece
between our physicians
and patients is really at its maximum to ensure, um,
that our patients continue
to have fantastic health outcomes.
We're also continuing to work on health equity
to reduce health disparities.
And so we have several committees
that we're focused on health equity
and have done a fantastic job as well.
But this year we'll actually be putting out a report
for the first time to talk about the work that's being done,
because tackling health equity is so complex,
and so we hope to use that as a guide, um,
not just at Houston Methodist,
but for other organizations to use on
how we're addressing health equity.
And I think the last one, um,
to mention is we've also set up a partnership
with Best Buddies International, where we're making sure
that we're providing individuals that have intellectual
and developmental disabilities
and opportunity to work in healthcare.
You know, we talk oftentimes about other areas of, um,
groups that we need to employ,
but making sure that we have candidates of all backgrounds,
um, as well as those that have intellectual
and developmental disabilities to make sure they're,
they know that they can be employed at Houston Methodist.
And so those are just a couple of the programs
and initiatives that we're doing.
There's a lot more, but I'd say those
are probably some of the top ones.
- Yeah. How amazing are those partnerships
and avenues your DEI are going to,
that's absolutely amazing to hear.
Um, and before I let you go
and, you know, enjoy the rest of your day,
the last thing I wanted to ask you is
what keeps you motivated
or engaged in the work that you do every single day?
- Um, that's a good question as well.
Um, you know, this work is both emotionally
and mentally challenging on a daily basis
because we don't always get to see, you know, those results
of the hard work that we put in day in and day out.
But I think, you know, one of the things
that makes me the happiest is when I hear the stories about,
um, how great the members of my teams are
and how they've made a difference in someone's life.
We have employee resource groups, uh, we have 10 of them,
five of our chairs have received promotions,
and that's part of the reason we've created those ERGs
to make sure that people have leadership opportunities.
Uh, you know, when I walk through the halls
and see us celebrating various cultures in an open
environment where everyone is accepted, you know,
those are the things that keep me motivated.
And then also, you know, when people
that are coming into the industry now have this strong
interest in DEI and health equity, that keeps me motivated.
And knowing that the work I'm doing now will continue on
for many years to come long after, you know, I'm gone.
So not just one thing,
but lots of things, um, among the fact
that we do stay tired,
but we do stay motivated and keep pressing on.
- Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much, folks. Final thoughts.
This has been definitely an amazing
and informative discussion.
So again, I wanna thank you so much
for coming back on Becker's Healthcare
and I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
- Thanks so much. I look forward to speaking
with you soon, and thanks for having me.
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