I knew I wanted to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at CommuniCare Health Centers (CCHC) shortly after I became CMO. I have been passionately committed to cultural humility and DEI efforts throughout my career, and I brought this passion with me when I joined CCHC. This particular project is a piece of a larger effort at CCHC, in which I am participating with a team of colleagues, to improve DEI at CCHC. Initially, I focused on increasing the diversity of our primary care providers, but I quickly realized that representation without true inclusion is not sufficient to improve equity. I had recently participated in a microaggression training at UC Davis HEALTH, led by Dr. Kupiri Ackerman-Barger in the School of Nursing, and it became clear that this could be useful training at CCHC as well. For my CHIP, colleagues I recruited and I adapted her workshop regarding addressing microaggressions in the academic health environment to be appropriate for the community health setting. The goal of the project was to increase inclusion at CCHC by helping everyone at all levels understand microaggressions and how to address them to support each other in feeling included and respected as valuable members of our teams—to ultimately increase the sense of belonging for all.

Publish Date: 
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Cohort: 
First name: 
Suzanne
Last name: 
Eidson-Ton