Modern Healthcare – August 12, 2019

August 12, 2019 | Modern Healthcare 15

policy on harassment and inclusivity is part of company
information materials. Saunders said recruiters get a lot of
questions about it from applicants. Once hired, harassment
training is part of orientation as well as ongoing training
activities. All managers are routinely trained on harass-
ment and inclusivity.
“You have to be intentional about it,” Saunders said.
WellStar employees can also report any discrimination
or harassment concerns anonymously through a hotline or
with human resources. Th ose tools aren’t universally avail-
able across the industry, according to Modern Healthcare’s
survey. Just 19% of respondents said their organizations
had a formalized process for reporting discrimination and
harassment with consequences for off enders.
Saunders said that percentage is quite low considering
“that is only the beginning of getting people to speak up
and to know their voices matter ... that is just table stakes.”
WellStar is working on how to best address problems with
off enders, which is also key to changing the culture.
“If leaders hear it and don’t address it, people don’t speak
up, you have fatigued them,” said Johnese Spisso, CEO of
UCLA Health.
Spisso holds open forums, surveys staff on issues of ha-
rassment and rounds on clinical units to get a sense of the

We had a physician who harassed

the women. I fi red him.”

Women Leaders in Healthcare Gender Equity Initiative survey respondent

diff erent cultures and issues.

“When you talk about speaking up, people feel comfort-

able speaking up,” she said.

And soon after Spisso was appointed CEO of the system

in 2016, leaders were retrained on diversity and inclusivity.

Th ere are now fi ve female clinical chairs at the organiza-

tion, up from just one when Spisso started.

Duron at Cit y of Hope said a ll harassment and discrim-

ination complaints are taken seriously and thoroughly

investigated.

“Th ere is no tolerance for that behavior,” she said, adding

that people have been fi red or demoted for discrimination

and harassment.

But even when institutions are intentional about trying

to change the culture, it’s still hard. At New York-Pres-

byterian Hospital, leaders have been trained on implicit

bias but Chief Operating Offi cer Dr. Laura Forese admit-

ted she and her colleagues caught themselves factoring

in a woman’s recent pregnancy when it was time for her

promotion.

“You see how it’s easy to do that,” she said. “Even though

we a re work i ng on t hat i mpl icit bias it ’s just t here u n less you

are constantly as a team saying well, ‘Did we miss some-

thing? How do we think about this diff erent?’ ” 

“If leaders hear it and

don’t address it, people

don’t speak up, you

have fatigued them.

When you talk about

speaking up, people

feel comfortable

speaking up.”

Johnese Spisso

CEO

UCLA Hospital System