Thirty teams successfully completed a gap assessment, action planning and implemented projects to improve the delivery of equitable care across Oregon and Washington over the past 18 months. Despite competing priorities, such as COVID-19 surge, workforce turnover and financial constraints, the collaborative continued to experience high rates of participation from over 150 registered team members. This is a testament to the culture of equity and leadership support at the following hospitals and health systems:
Washington Participants:
Cascade Medical
Confluence Health System
Jefferson Healthcare
Kittitas Valley Healthcare
Klickitat Valley Health
MultiCare System
Naval Hospital Bremerton
North Valley Hospital
NW Kidney Centers
Ocean Beach Hospital & Medical Clinics
Olympic Medical Center
Providence St. Mary Medical Center
Providence Regional Medical Center Everett
Pullman Regional Hospital
Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Seattle Children’s
Skagit Valley Hospital
Skyline Health
Swedish System
Virginia Mason Medical Center
UW Medicine (Harborview, Montlake, Northwest)
UW Valley Medical Center
Yakima Valley Memorial
Whitman Hospital
Oregon Participants:
Columbia Memorial Hospital
Lake District Hospital
OHSU Hospital
Samaritan Health System
Sky Lakes Medical Center
St. Charles Health System
Examples of equity advancement include improving language access for Spanish-speaking agricultural workers, using patient-identified pronouns, improving capture of race and ethnicity data to 95%, increasing the diversity and representation of patient advisory councils, screening for food insecurity and providing groceries. Teams participated in over 12 hours of dedicated peer coaching and many teams shared detailed presentations of their learning to guide others. In the “all teach, all learn” model, hospitals and health systems shared resources and expertise to catalyze action across the region and expedite dissemination of promising practices.
Congratulations to all the teams and participants who helped to make the first WSHA Health Equity Collaborative a success! All hospitals/health systems who completed the program will receive a certificate of completion in the next few weeks.
To continue the work, beginning in 2023, WSHA will launch three Health Equity Workgroups to dive deeper into three priority areas: Gender-affirming care, equity measures and data analytics, and social determinants of health. Visit the WSHA Health Equity webpage to enroll. (Abigail Berube)
