Forbes names Baptist Health a top employer for diversity

Forbes Magazine has named Baptist Health of Northeast Florida one of America’s best employers for diversity.

In its annual “America’s Best Employers for Diversity 2022” list, Baptist Health ranked No. 10 among the 36 ranked hospitals and health care systems, and No. 94 among 500 U.S. companies from across all industries.

Further, Baptist Health was the highest ranked health care system in the state of Florida.

Forbes partnered with global market research firm Statista to compile the annual list. After reviewing more than 10,000 companies and giving the top 2,000 a diversity score, they developed the final list of 500.

The scoring methodology took into account surveys of Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees as well as publicly disclosed information about representation, board and leadership diversity, and proactive diversity and inclusion initiatives.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion are central to our values, our culture and our strategic focus as an organization," said Michael A. Mayo, president and CEO of Baptist Health. "From the board room to the bedside, our DEI initiatives are critically important – not only shaping our workforce and work environment, but also impacting how we do business and how we improve our community’s health.”

Among Baptist Health’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and accomplishments are:

• A 32-member DEI Council to advance diversity and inclusion throughout the organization,
• Expansion of employee resource groups to engage team members,
• Training about unconscious bias, harassment and discrimination,
• DEI review and update of HR policies, with key policies translated into five languages to support team members for whom English is a second language,
• Diversity dialogues and recommended actions based on team member input,
• A supplier diversity program,
• Culturally sensitive campaigns to improve health screenings, preventive care, and overcome barriers to health care access among underserved racial and socioeconomic groups.

“Prioritizing the health and wellbeing of all people is part of who we are as the community’s faith-based, locally governed, not-for-profit health system,” said Timothy Groover, system chief medical officer. “Our medical staff plays a critical role in helping us to identify and eliminate health disparities, and we are very grateful for their partnership in this important work.”