Selected Podcast
ECMC Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Dr. Cynthia R. Bass discusses The ECMC Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the important work of this office.
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Learn more about Cynthia R. Bass, MBA, CDM
Cynthia R. Bass, MBA, CDM
In May 2017, Cynthia accepted the position of Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, reporting directly to ECMC’s President and CEO. Her primary duties include development and implementing a strategic plan that prioritizes and communicates the importance of diversity in a community-based, safety net hospital setting; serving as a resource on how to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion into ECMC programs, policies and procedures; collaborating with all levels of management and Executive Leadership to develop diversity and inclusion competencies; and to represent the institution at community events.Learn more about Cynthia R. Bass, MBA, CDM
Transcription:
Intro: It's another edition of the Erie County Medical Center podcast series, True Care Healthcast.
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Diversity and inclusion are essential components to your medical care, but aren't often talked about upfront. Today, we are joined by Cindy Bass, the Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Erie County Medical Center to hear about some of the important work that comes out of this office.
This is the True Care Health Podcast, the official podcast from the Erie County Medical Center. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Well, Cindy, thank you so much for being with us today. And to start off, please tell us a bit about the mission of your office.
Cynthia R. Bass, MBA, CDM (Guest): Oh thank you for having me Caitlin. Our Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was started due to the need that was happening in America. So, our mission is really to focus on providing the strategic leadership and we embrace equality, respect, training, and awareness. We value the differences of all people. Our organization ECMC is committed to creating an inclusive organizational culture for our patients, our employees, our vendors, and the community that we serve.
Host: So, tell us about the purpose of your office. How does that factor into your care?
Cindy: Well, what our office really do is we focus on implementing and communicating the awareness of diversity in the picture and embedding it into our culture. So, our goal is really to be inclusive. And when we're inclusive, you know, we like our employees to be aware of cultural differences. So, with our patients, being a number one, Western New York Trauma Center, we service patients from all over the eight counties here the Western New York. So, we want our employees to understand and know to bring your whole self. And there are differences. We have patients that come from different cultures and we want to be able to provide the best care. We do. We provide the best care, but when we talk to our patients and we care for them, we can understand their needs. For example, we're focusing on spirituality and healthcare because we, we see all different types of religious and cultural. So, we want our employees to understand and be aware of the differences and that way they can provide a hundred percent of care to them.
Host: I'd love to hear about some of the important work performed by your office. Do you have any specific stories?
Cindy: Oh, sure. Yes. So, you know, with everything that has been going on, the climate of America, one of the things that we do, we provide a space for all employees to come if they have any diversity issues or concerns or questions. So, if there's a problem or an employee may be going through something, they can come to our office and talk to us. And what's nice is that, you know, for example, we're not, we don't criticize anyone, but we listen and we create a safe space so they can have those brave conversations. We also have received the top performer for the human rights for our LGBTQ community.
So our company, ECMC, we looked at all of our policies. We looked at our procedures. We did training that we can provide the best care for our LGBTQ community. So, it created some changes. And for example, that you know, when a patient comes into our hospital, we're asking them, you know, the gender identity, little things like that, that we can be compassionate to our employees.
We're providing diversity awareness. We have created a training. It's called This is Home because we are home. We are a family here at ECMC and this training provides education and awareness to diversity, equity and inclusion. And we, we talk about it. We talk about what it means. What does diversity mean?
What does equity mean? What does inclusion mean and how does it affect our lives, not only as work professionals, but in our community, and again, you know, the patients that come into our hospital, we get them from all areas. You know, whether your income is high, your income is low. We service all people. So, we want to be aware of that.
And that's what our training is about, as a family. We look at policies to make sure that they are up to date when it comes to discrimination policies and diversity policies. So, we look at that. We do depth research to make sure that our organization ECMC is really up to par with you know, all the current events that's going on. We really strive for communication and that's key to all of our employees' cultural awareness. So, we, we provide information. We do dishes. We come through a lot of collaborations with other areas.
Host: Absolutely. Well, Cindy, it's so great to hear that your organization is taking all of this into account. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
Cindy: I would just like to say that we are from our leadership, our CEO, Dr. Tom Quatroche and the leadership team, their support for this program. We have taken something that we have not had here before, and really built a foundation for our employees. And to recognize that we value our employees, we have a campaign, to let our employees know that they matter, that they have value. And then we're trying to create a sense of belonging.
Host: Well, again, Cindy, thank you so much for all you do for ECMC and for being with us today. For more information about the ECMC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, visit ecmc.edu, or call (716) 898-3982, that's (716) 898-3982.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends and family. This is the True Care Health Podcast, the official podcast from the Erie County Medical Center. I'm Caitlin Whyte. We'll see you next time.
Intro: It's another edition of the Erie County Medical Center podcast series, True Care Healthcast.
Caitlin Whyte (Host): Diversity and inclusion are essential components to your medical care, but aren't often talked about upfront. Today, we are joined by Cindy Bass, the Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Erie County Medical Center to hear about some of the important work that comes out of this office.
This is the True Care Health Podcast, the official podcast from the Erie County Medical Center. I'm Caitlin Whyte. Well, Cindy, thank you so much for being with us today. And to start off, please tell us a bit about the mission of your office.
Cynthia R. Bass, MBA, CDM (Guest): Oh thank you for having me Caitlin. Our Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was started due to the need that was happening in America. So, our mission is really to focus on providing the strategic leadership and we embrace equality, respect, training, and awareness. We value the differences of all people. Our organization ECMC is committed to creating an inclusive organizational culture for our patients, our employees, our vendors, and the community that we serve.
Host: So, tell us about the purpose of your office. How does that factor into your care?
Cindy: Well, what our office really do is we focus on implementing and communicating the awareness of diversity in the picture and embedding it into our culture. So, our goal is really to be inclusive. And when we're inclusive, you know, we like our employees to be aware of cultural differences. So, with our patients, being a number one, Western New York Trauma Center, we service patients from all over the eight counties here the Western New York. So, we want our employees to understand and know to bring your whole self. And there are differences. We have patients that come from different cultures and we want to be able to provide the best care. We do. We provide the best care, but when we talk to our patients and we care for them, we can understand their needs. For example, we're focusing on spirituality and healthcare because we, we see all different types of religious and cultural. So, we want our employees to understand and be aware of the differences and that way they can provide a hundred percent of care to them.
Host: I'd love to hear about some of the important work performed by your office. Do you have any specific stories?
Cindy: Oh, sure. Yes. So, you know, with everything that has been going on, the climate of America, one of the things that we do, we provide a space for all employees to come if they have any diversity issues or concerns or questions. So, if there's a problem or an employee may be going through something, they can come to our office and talk to us. And what's nice is that, you know, for example, we're not, we don't criticize anyone, but we listen and we create a safe space so they can have those brave conversations. We also have received the top performer for the human rights for our LGBTQ community.
So our company, ECMC, we looked at all of our policies. We looked at our procedures. We did training that we can provide the best care for our LGBTQ community. So, it created some changes. And for example, that you know, when a patient comes into our hospital, we're asking them, you know, the gender identity, little things like that, that we can be compassionate to our employees.
We're providing diversity awareness. We have created a training. It's called This is Home because we are home. We are a family here at ECMC and this training provides education and awareness to diversity, equity and inclusion. And we, we talk about it. We talk about what it means. What does diversity mean?
What does equity mean? What does inclusion mean and how does it affect our lives, not only as work professionals, but in our community, and again, you know, the patients that come into our hospital, we get them from all areas. You know, whether your income is high, your income is low. We service all people. So, we want to be aware of that.
And that's what our training is about, as a family. We look at policies to make sure that they are up to date when it comes to discrimination policies and diversity policies. So, we look at that. We do depth research to make sure that our organization ECMC is really up to par with you know, all the current events that's going on. We really strive for communication and that's key to all of our employees' cultural awareness. So, we, we provide information. We do dishes. We come through a lot of collaborations with other areas.
Host: Absolutely. Well, Cindy, it's so great to hear that your organization is taking all of this into account. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?
Cindy: I would just like to say that we are from our leadership, our CEO, Dr. Tom Quatroche and the leadership team, their support for this program. We have taken something that we have not had here before, and really built a foundation for our employees. And to recognize that we value our employees, we have a campaign, to let our employees know that they matter, that they have value. And then we're trying to create a sense of belonging.
Host: Well, again, Cindy, thank you so much for all you do for ECMC and for being with us today. For more information about the ECMC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, visit ecmc.edu, or call (716) 898-3982, that's (716) 898-3982.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends and family. This is the True Care Health Podcast, the official podcast from the Erie County Medical Center. I'm Caitlin Whyte. We'll see you next time.