"From allocating capital funds to improving community health status, the diverse makeup of the service area has to be factored into decisions, and trustees steeped in the unique factors of that diversity are essential..."
"From allocating capital funds to improving community health status, the diverse makeup of the service area has to be factored into decisions, and trustees steeped in the unique factors of that diversity are essential..."
That's the beginning premise of a recent article in Trustee magazine from the American Hospital Association on why diversity in the board room is pivotal for organizations seeking to understand and equip their leadership teams to achieve success in population health.
Without diversity, notes Furst Group principal Deanna Banks in the article, "What you get is a group-think. You've got similar-minded people from a singular exposure making decisions on behalf of things for which they lack insight and understanding -- and sometimes empathy."
Kelvin Westbrook, chair of BJC Healthcare in St. Louis, shares a memorable experience he had years ago about the "shoe test."
"If you look under the table and you don't have a diversity of shoes, you're probably going to get a much narrower perspective on what can and cannot work."
To read the complete article, click here.