At El Rio Health, we are committed to health equity. Health equity is when everyone has the opportunity to attain their full health potential without being discriminated against or disadvantaged. We strive to provide care that makes all our patients feel safe, heard and valued.

Part of creating health equity is committing to diversity and inclusion within our clinics, among our patients and our staff.  We believe it is critical for our staff, not only to look like but also, to understand and empathize with the community we serve. We acknowledge and celebrate the national origin, language, race, ethnicity, culture, age, religion, income, physical & mental ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation of our patients and our employees.

Why is this important?

Social and economic factors play a large role in health and illness. Research shows that bias and racism negatively impact the health and wellness of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), LGBTQ+ people, and others underrepresented or marginalized people.

Increasing the diversity of our workforce, promoting inclusiveness in our workplace, and training our staff on implicit bias helps us:

• Increase patient choice and satisfaction.
• Improve how patients and healthcare workers communicate with each other.
• Decrease the gap in healthcare for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ and all underrepresented patients. Click here to learn more about El Rio’s LGBTQ+ services.
• Provide better care for all patients.

Our commitments

To our patients, staff, and community, we commit to:

1. Engage in an institutional process of reflection and learning about inequities.
2. Track key patient outcomes by race, demographics, and ethnicity on an ongoing basis, with a commitment to addressing health inequities.
3. Proactively hire a diverse workforce and to foster a safe and supportive work environment for our staff and a safe place to receive care for our patients.

To increase and maintain diversity and inclusion in our workforce, we continue our commitment to:

1. Work with local groups and schools to recruit diverse talent. Click here to view our non-discrimination policy.
2. Teach employees about health equity, implicit bias, cultural humility, and social determinants of health to provide better and more equitable care.
3. Use surveys and local data to understand community strengths and needs.
4. Update El Rio Health internal policies and standards to ensure all employees feel safe and valued.

Read more about our Health Equity Commitment here.

For a glossary of some of the terms listed above, click here.