Latest / Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast / Arianne Dowdell, Vice President Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer for Houston Methodist

Transcript

Arianne Dowdell, Vice President Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer for Houston Methodist · Becker’s Healthcare - Clinical Leadership Podcast

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