The American Hospital Association (AHA) launched the #123 for Equity Pledge to Act Campaign in July 2015, building upon the National Call to Action to Eliminate Health Care Disparities. Hospital and health system leaders are pledging to take action to accelerate progress in the following areas:
- Increasing the collection and use of race, ethnicity, language preference and other socio-demographic data
- Increasing cultural competency training
- Increasing diversity in leadership and governance
- Improve and strengthen community partnerships
Hospitals and health systems also can take the pledge and commit to working on efforts within their organization or in the community related to health equity and diversity and inclusion even if the efforts do not fit clearly under one of the pledge goals listed above. In North Carolina, 83 hospitals and health systems (and NCHA) have signed the pledge as of Dec. 6, 2018 — including the recent addition of all of UNC Health Care’s hospitals. North Carolina is ranked 4th in the nation for number of pledges. See the list online here. Learn more about the campaign here. For more information on the pledge and the campaign, contact LaPonda Edmondson, DrPH, MHS, senior director of evaluation, NC Hospital Foundation, at 919-677-4125 or ledmondson@ncha.org. Learn more about NCHA’s equity work here.