Dell Med knows that addressing systemic inequities will help achieve optimal health for all and believes that a diverse, equitable and inclusive organizational culture deepens the intellectual environment and improves the academic experience, research, patient care and health. The Office of Health Equity and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are two related — but distinct — efforts to that end.
Office of Health Equity
Dell Med’s health equity work takes place within the context of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s definition of health equity:
Health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care.
Guided by the Health Equity Strategic Map, the Office of Health Equity is laying groundwork internally to enable the school to effectively address externally those systems and drivers that affect the ability for Central Texans to have a “fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.” This work takes place within the context of entrenched inequities across society and upholds racial equity as a foundational principle.
Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
The Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion focuses its work internally to create lasting institutional change: cultivating a diverse and inclusive campus environment and culture that advances equity.
The aim is to assure that everyone — especially people who have been historically marginalized — can fully participate in decision-making throughout Dell Med and equally benefit from and contribute to the institution.
The office strives to create meaningful progress in four priority areas:
- Organizational climate
- Faculty and staff hiring, recruitment and retention
- Health professions pathway programs
- Strategic partnerships