Founder's Welcome

Welcome to the Healthcare Diversity Conference website.

I have been a lifelong advocate of diversity in every sphere. Healthcare is now an important issue in the public eye, but the profession continues to be underrepresented in terms of diversity and inclusion. I believe that the National Healthcare Diversity Council will serve as the first step in addressing that problem. The purpose of the Healthcare Diversity Council is to show the value of multiculturalism in healthcare professions. Through highlighting the opportunities available, we plan to encourage medical institutions to seek more racially-, culturally-, and socially-mixed personnel. This organization will also serve as a resource to inclusive medical professionals and students searching for healthcare facilities that strive to hire personnel with a variety of lifestyles.

The definition of diversity itself has morphed beyond what has been the traditional focus of race and gender demographics. Studies show that millennials now define diversity in much more inclusive terms like life experiences, lifestyle choices and ideas, such as socioeconomic status and sexual orientation. This results in a great disparity between medical professionals and the patients that they serve. Still to date, executive positions are very rarely held by a person of color or a woman and, when they are, wages and job satisfaction are disparate with their white male counterparts.

The obvious solution is to encourage hospitals and clinics to hire out of their own communities, so that patients can be treated by staff that are intimately familiar with the patients’ circumstances. It goes beyond having a healthcare professional that understands your culture and medical needs; the key is to have patients be comfortable receiving medical care from someone from the same culture, national origins, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political and socio-economic condition, among others.

The U.S. Department of Human Services projects that healthcare spending will be one-fifth of the U.S. economy in nine years. With this type of financial impact, it is imperative that we join together to champion for a healthcare system that recognizes the benefits of diversity and inclusion, not only in patient care, but also in fiscal responsibility and competitive advantage.

I look forward to working with you in this most important endeavor.

Cordially,

Dennis Kennedy
Founder & Chairman
Healthcare Diversity Conference

Meet Dennis Kennedy

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