American Hospital Association and UnidosUS Announce Alliance to Advance Health Equity and Diversity

WASHINGTON  – The American Hospital Association (AHA) and UnidosUS today announced an alliance to improve the health of communities across the nation and increase diversity among health care executives shaping the future of care.

These two organizations will connect UnidosUS leaders with governance opportunities at AHA hospitals and health systems, steer and promote grant work that fosters progress on social determinants of health by fostering programs and services that improve opportunities for Latinos, and collaborate on solutions around youth violence prevention and post-trauma support in communities.

“Building stronger communities – healthy communities – is a mission our organizations share,” said AHA president and CEO Rick Pollack. “To achieve that diversity – increasing the number of Latinos in health care leadership, addressing disparities in care that Latinos experience – must be priority. This work builds on our alliance with the National Urban League and AHA’s commitment to truly shift and improve how health care works in America.”

”We welcome this new strategic alliance with the AHA. It is critical that the leadership of hospitals and major health systems reflect the growing diversity of the people they serve and our country,” said Janet Murguía, president and CEO of UnidosUS. “We are eager to also work with AHA in addressing the growing crisis in our community – the toll that violence is taking on the social and emotional wellbeing of our young people. By highlighting leading voices and programs related to trauma within our communities, we can work together to best prepare the next generation of change makers and promote a healthy future.”

Over the next year, AHA and UnidosUS will:

• Increase diversity within governance by connecting health care CEOs with UnidosUS leaders to create opportunities to serve on the boards of AHA member hospitals or health systems.
• Foster a culture of health among Latinos through AHA’s participation in UnidosUS advisory committee being established as part of a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AHA will be part of the national group to promote this work.
• Address community challenges – particularly around youth violence prevention and post-trauma support – by identifying existing hospital programs through AHA’s Hospitals Against Violence initiative and UnidosUS’ youth leadership programs, such as its Men of Action program, and sharing lessons learned across organizations emphasizing a program’s scalability and impact

Last year the AHA and the National Urban League announced a similar alliance to advance health equity and diversity/inclusion in health care leadership in communities across the nation. The NUL efforts include connecting hospitals and health system CEOs with local Urban League leaders interested in opportunities to serve on governing boards at hospitals and health systems. In addition, the collaboration is working to create resources for the field and share best practices on how health systems could embed community health workers as part of their care teams and provide adequate training.

For more information, visit AHA’s Institute for Diversity www.diversityconnection.org.

About the AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which include nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.