News Releases

Grand Rapids, Mich., Aug. 7, 2018 – Spectrum Health has been named to the Diversity Best Practices 2018 Inclusion Index for diversity and inclusion practices in recruitment, retention and advancement; organizational culture; and demographic transparency by Diversity Best Practices, a division of Working Mother Media.

“While we know this is an area of continuous improvement, I am very proud of this recognition as it reflects the great work of our team members,” said Pamela Ries, senior vice president, chief human resources officer, Spectrum Health.  “At Spectrum Health, we are individually and collectively responsible for creating an inclusive environment for our colleagues, patients, members and their families.  This work is core to who we are and to our commitment to the community.”

Spectrum Health is recognized as a leader in the following areas in this report:

• Gender diversity in leadership (at all levels)
• Percentage of growth in the number of racial/ethnic employees
• Talent programs for individuals with disabilities and veterans
• Aligned inclusion & diversity focus with business strategy
• Segmentation of employee engagement data by dimensions of diversity

Spectrum Health was among the 73 organizations that earned a score of at least 65 percent and a place on this year’s index.  The Inclusion Index Data Snapshot featuring highlights from the report can be found here.

In 2017, Spectrum Health took another step in its inclusion and diversity journey by signing the #123forEquity Pledge and Talent 2025 CEO Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.  Champions across the health system are committed to making meaningful progress in five areas of focus:

• Equity of Care: improve systematic collection of data (race, ethnicity, and language) and use of quality measures to develop targeted interventions that help eliminate health care disparities
• Cultural Competence: deliver a variety of interventions aimed to improve organizational and systemic barriers that affect people, behavior and the quality of health care provided
• Workforce Diversity: increase and sustain racial and ethnic diversity of our workforce at all levels to improve access to health care for communities of color
• Community Engagement: increase and strengthen community partnerships that bring awareness and involvement in improving health outcomes and reducing health inequities within our community
• Supplier Diversity: improve economic health through inclusive sourcing that leads to cost savings, drives innovation, and benefits our local community

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People are at the heart of everything we do, and the inspiration for our legacy of outstanding outcomes, innovation, strong community partnerships, philanthropy and transparency. Corewell Health is a not-for-profit health system that provides health care and coverage with an exceptional team of 60,000+ dedicated people—including more than 11,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and more than 15,000 nurses providing care and services in 21 hospitals, 300+ outpatient locations and several post-acute facilities—and Priority Health, a provider-sponsored health plan serving more than 1.3 million members. Through experience and collaboration, we are reimagining a better, more equitable model of health and wellness. For more information, visit corewellhealth.org.