The work of racial justice will be a marathon, not a sprint. There will be milestones along our journey to becoming an anti-racist institution. In the short-term (Fall 2020), the HOPE Commission coordinated a systemwide engagement process to develop recommendations for action in 2021. As a result of work plan implementation and continuous learning, we will develop greater capacity as individuals and an organization to deepen our work in 2022 and beyond. Whenever possible, we’ll make change quickly. At the same time, some changes will take more time, and we are committed to long-term transformation. At this early stage, thanks in part to recent suggestions from employees, successes include:
Winter/Spring 2022 Signals of Progress, Signs of HOPE
We are eager to share the 2021 HOPE Commission Report, which highlights the progress we've made over the last year and our continuing commitment, across the Joint Clinical Enterprise to provide inclusive environments, better experiences, and more equitable outcomes for our patients, employees, and communities.
HOPE in the Community
Our Investment in Community - As an anchor institution, we recognize our everyday business practices can contribute to community health and wellbeing. This includes where we invest our dollars through community contributions as well as how we leverage our financial assets. The Fairview Board has put their support behind dedicating a portion of our investable assets towards local, place-based investments such as community development and affordable housing projects. Fairview's Community Health Investing strategy will create healthy and thriving communities by increasing available capital for positive social, economic, or environmental impact across a wide range of areas.
Our Commitment to Recognizing Cultural Holidays - Last year, a pilot project launched at M Health Fairview Masonic Children's Hospital that recognized our Muslim patients and families during Ramadan by offering dates and water at sundown to break their fast. Created by nurses from the pediatric ED and members of the FUSION Employee Resource Group, this project has expanded to two additional sites in 2022. This spring Ramadan began on April 2, Passover is on April 14 & 15, Easter and Southeast Asian New Year fall on April 17.
HOPE Across the System
Self-ID Campaign - Understanding the demographic identity of our employees will allow us to understand how our system is succeeding or falling short of our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. The Self-ID campaign is a significant step in ensuring equitable and accurate data is gathered by allowing employees to describe themselves in the most authentic way possible. The data collected will only be used in aggregate to understand systemic issues such as pay and promotion equity. In 2021, UMMS and M Physicians launched Self-ID campaigns based on recommendations from the HOPE Commission. Fairview recently launched its own Self-ID campaign, joining this inclusive effort. Employees with access to Lawson can log in and fill out the information with which they are comfortable.
M Health Fairview Equity Strategy Office (ESO) - The work of the HOPE Commission identified that the system was missing critical foundational components to advance equity. The ESO was created to identify opportunities for strategic advancement and prioritization of equity projects and help build that foundation. Dr. Taj Mustapha leads the ESO and is joined by Maria Regan Gonzalez , System Director of Equity Initiatives, and Alex Abraha , Restorative Justice Coordinator.