Kaiser Permanente ‘separates,’ Vermont workers sign petition for bias training in the pursuit of diversity
Kaiser Permanente is separating from the Sonoma County Alliance, a business and civic coalition, over concerns about racial inclusion and lack of diversity, according to the North Bay Business Journal.
The Oakland, Calif.-based system is leaving after the ex-president of the alliance, Doug Hilberman, published a letter on its website that began with “ALL lives matter.” The phrase is seen as anti diversity, divisive, and unsympathetic toward the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr. Hilberman’s statement accompanied a broader criticism of vandalism toward downtown businesses, including his own architectural firm, during June protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
He resigned from his position June 28, noting, “I wrote a June message that I am now aware was terribly insensitive and harmful to our community. I am incredibly sorry for the impact that this has had on our organization and the community.”
Kaiser Permanente is cutting ties with the alliance and its board until “real progress has been made with tangible results in the areas of equity and inclusion,” according to Tarek Salaway, senior vice president and area manager for Kaiser Permanente’s Marin-Sonoma service area.
Kaiser also said it wants the makeup of the coalition to more closely resemble the makeup of its community.
Meanwhile, 39 employees at Rutland (VT) Regional Medical Center have signed a petition asking hospital leadership to require implicit bias training for all workers and take other steps to increase awareness about racial justice issues, according to the VTDigger.
The employees submitted the petition June 3. In addition to implicit bias training, the petition asks hospital leaders to raise a Black Lives Matter flag over the facility in solidarity with the movement against systemic racism — and issue a public statement acknowledging the presence of racism in healthcare, according to VTDigger.
The petition comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who died Memorial Day in the custody of Minneapolis police. Mr. Floyd died after an officer pressed his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, igniting protests against excessive police force worldwide.
The petition was written by emergency room nurse Ryn Gluckman in collaboration with other hospital workers and the local NAACP chapter. And Rutland Regional Medical Center CEO Claudio Fort and Mike Solimano, chair of the board of directors, agreed to meet with petition organizers June 4.
In response to VTDigger‘s request for comment, hospital leaders wrote that “the events of the past week have inflicted much anger, heartache and despair upon our already wounded nation.”
“They have exposed the effects of systemic racism in our society and institutions,” they wrote. “As an organization that is committed to healing, we recognize that this is an opportunity to address racism in healthcare and the impact of health disparities on our community. The leadership of Rutland Regional Medical Center is committed to working to advance efforts to recognize and address unconscious bias and inequality in our organization and to eliminate health disparities in our community.”
