2013 Texas Diversity Council Healthcare Diversity Summit Statewide Tour

The Texas Diversity Council brought together the healthcare community to engage in dialog and action on diversity & leadership best practices. The theme for this year was "The Paradigm Shift to Drive Cultural Competence in Healthcare". With recent changes to our National Health Care System as well as the changing demographics in our country.There is an urgent need to understand the importance of healthcare organizations providing a culturally competent framework to serve such a diverse population.
The tour began with the Greater Dallas Healthcare Diversity Summit on July 11th, 2013 at UT Southwestern Center in Dallas, Texas. Harry Gibbs, M.D., Chief Diversity Officer for The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center opened the event with "Cultural Competency, Cultural Proficiency, Cultural Humility, Diversity and Inclusion: Why The Fractionation?" Following his speech, a panel session addressed the topic of "Beyond Diversity: Becoming a Culture of Inclusive Excellence" moderated by Kimel Hodges, AVP of Equal Opportunity and Minority Affairs at UT Southwestern Center and included the following speakers: Shawna D. Nesbitt, MD, MS, Associate Dean, Minority Student Affairs, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Div. Cardiology UT Southwestern Medical Center; Virginia Rose, MBA, ACHE Member, Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Texas Health Resources, Presbyterian Dallas Hospital; Zachary Thompson, Director, Dallas County Health and Human Services; and Helen Yin, PhD, Assistant Dean, Office of Women's Careers, Professor and Vice Chair Department of Physiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center,

Dallas was followed by the Central Texas Advisory Board in Austin, Texas. The event was held August 15th at the St. David's Medical Center Auditorium, 919 East 32nd Street Austin, TX 78705. Highlights included opening remarks by Don Wilkerson, CEO, St. David's Medical Center & Angeles Valenciano, President, Texas Diversity Healthcare Council. The summit theme was well presented by Pilar Oates, B.A., M.A., Independent Consultant in Non-Profit Management and Leadership Development, Formerly Executive Director of Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas Inc. The panel discussion was led by moderator Marian Wu, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, St. David's HealthCare. Panelists included, Geronimo M. Rodriguez Jr., Vice President of Diversity and Community Outreach, Seton Healthcare Family; Susan E. Griffin, Chief Nursing Officer, St. David's Medical Center; and William Hopkins, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP.

The next stop of the tour was Gulf Coast Advisory Board on August 28th hosted by Memorial Herman Southwest at the Wilson Turner Auditorium, 7737 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77074. Paula McHa, Gulf Coast Advisory Board President and Community Involvement Lead for Cigna provided opening remarks along with Tanya Cook, System Executive-Talent Acquisition, Memorial Hermann. Jumping back on the tour was Harry R. Gibbs, M.D. (MD Anderson) and was joined by panelists Edward Guerrero, Coordinator of the Infusion Pharmacy, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic's Cancer Center; Adeola Oduwole, M.Sc., Director of Diversity and Inclusion, The University of Texas Medical Branch and Hugh Tillman, Director, Human Resources, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital.

For those that have not gotten an opportunity to participate, the final stop to the Healthcare Summit for 2013 will be held in San Antonio on November 15, 2013. The event will be held at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System, 333 North Santa Rosa Street 5th Floor Center for Children and Families, San Antonio, TX 78207-3198. Dr. Harry Gibbs will make his final appearance on this tour alongside moderator Gayle Dasher, RN, PhD, Director of Clinical Practice and Standards, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System; panelists Fernando A. Guerra, MD, MPH, FAAP, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center of San Antonio - School of Nursing / Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment; Pat Carrier, President/CEO, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System; Sister Pearl Ceasar, CDP, Executive Director, Project Quest and last but not least, Pilar Oates, B.A., M.A., Community Leader.

For more information and registration to this last summit, please visit our website.

Details regarding the 2010 Healthcare Diversity Summits and our sponsors can be found at texasdiversitycouncil.org.

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