Former Chief of Staff Dr. Edgar B. Jackson, Jr. says the climate inside University Hospitals today is more welcoming to minorities than ever before in the institution’s long history.
Dr. Jackson, a respected doctor in the community who dedicated his 40-year career to serving and uplifting the community’s minorities and its poorest residents, says the number of minorities on the medical staff has increased fourfold since the 1970s and 1980s. In the last two years alone, UH has more than doubled the number of minority physicians.
“The increase in African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and other underrepresented minorities is largely due to a commitment by the board of trustees to make inclusion one of its core competencies,” said Jackson, a retired African-American physician who oversees diversity outreach and serves as senior advisor to the CEO of the UH system.
“When the board said it wanted diversity incorporated into every business plan in the system, the message was clearly to integrate diversity into the culture of the organization from the top down,” Jackson said. “This approach assured everyone the organization was serious about inclusion.”
Instrumental in coloring the UH landscape are a number of diversity-focused initiatives, such as the creation of a $1.5 million endowed chair – a permanent staff position – named in honor of Dr. Jackson.
Dr. Richard Grant, a nationally renowned orthopaedic surgeon, joined the UH faculty in 2006 as the first incumbent of the Jackson Chair for Clinical Excellence and Diversity.Dr. Grant is continuing Dr. Jackson’s work of mentoring minority medical students and recruiting, developing and retaining minority faculty.
Further championing the goals of inclusion at UH is its Diversity Council. Established in 2005, the 10-member council reports to the senior leadership council and consists of a senior-level manager from each department in the UH system. This council is chaired by Dr. Jackson, a representative from the office of the CEO.
Council objectives are to ensure the development of diverse administrative leaders and community partnerships. The council is also charged with the development of minority faculty and other health professionals, expanding recruitment and retention of minorities and increasing business with minority and female-owned businesses in the greater Cleveland area.