University Hospitals named finalist for AHA's inaugural Equity of Care Award

CLEVELAND, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- University Hospitals (UH) in Cleveland has been named a finalist for the American Hospital Association's (AHA) inaugural Equity of Care Award for its efforts to reduce health care disparities and promote diversity within the organization's leadership and staff.  The health system was honored July 21 at the Health Forum-AHA Leadership Summit in San Diego.

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The AHA Equity of Care Award was created to recognize outstanding efforts among hospitals and care systems to advance equity of care to all patients, and to spread lessons learned and progress toward achieving health equity.  In 2011, the AHA joined four national health care organizations to issue a call to action to eliminate health care disparities by focusing on increasing the collection of race, ethnicity and language preference data; increasing cultural competency training; and increasing diversity in governance and leadership.

"The work of these hospitals and health systems in promoting and improving equitable care is something the field can embrace and build on," said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. "They are leaders who are pushing us forward to ensure that all patients receive the highest quality of care and that hospitals reflect the communities they serve."

UH has undertaken many efforts to increase diversity in its leadership and governance.  The health system has achieved a 400 percent increase in minorities serving on its board of trustees; currently, minorities comprise 26 percent of UH board members, compared to 14 percent nationally.  UH also has developed a number of internal programs and partnerships with the community, including Step up to UH, UH Leadership Academy and UH Mentoring Program, that have helped increase diversity in the health system's staff and leadership ranks.

UH has partnered with more 100 community stakeholders on initiatives to reduce disparities in care.  These efforts include reducing rates of cardiovascular disease and stroke through free community-based education and screenings; reducing infant mortality and improving infant health through community education-and outreach partnerships; and reducing inappropriate emergency-department use through patient outreach, intensified sickle-cell-disease services, care-management programs and "fast-track" clinical access for patients with chronic diseases.

In addition, UH is implementing Vision 2010 – a five-year strategic expansion plan that has become a national model for game-changing diversity and inclusion.  Among the pillars of the effort include increasing access to care and access to opportunity for historically excluded minority- and female-owned contractors, suppliers and laborers.

The Equity of Care Award will be presented annually by the AHA.  Hospitals were required to complete an application describing their efforts to provide equitable care and had to participate in the Institute for Diversity in Health Management's most recent benchmarking survey on diversity and disparities.

About the AHA
The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA Web site at www.aha.org.

About University Hospitals
University Hospitals, the second largest employer in Northeast Ohio, serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of hospitals, outpatient centers and primary care physicians in 16 counties. At the core of our health system is University Hospitals Case Medical Center, one of only 18 hospitals in the country to have been named to U.S. News & World Report's most exclusive rankings list: the Best Hospitals 2013-14 Honor Roll. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, UH Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research centers of excellence in the nation and the world, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics and spine, radiology and radiation oncology, neurosurgery and neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, organ transplantation and human genetics. Its main campus includes the internationally celebrated UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University. UH Case Medical Center is the 2012 recipient of the American Hospital Association – McKesson Quest for Quality Prize for its leadership and innovation in quality improvement and safety. For more information, go to www.uhhospitals.org.

SOURCE American Hospital Association