Justice-Equity-Diversity-Inclusion (JEDI) Committee

Illustrated map of the world with red location markers

Each marker signifies the geographic location that a sample of our Hospital Medicine providers most identify with.

The Section of Hospital Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Health is committed to creating a culture that is just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Therefore, we have created a Justice-Equity-Diversity-Inclusion (JEDI) Committee that we hope serves as a model to be used in other sections across the Wake Forest Baptist Health system.

Mission Statement

Our committee is dedicated to promoting and achieving diversity in all respects to create a just, equitable and inclusive workplace. We believe that creating an environment where everyone can be their authentic selves will bring out the best in them. We trust that our commitment towards building a diverse and inclusive team will also serve to address and improve inequity in healthcare.

- Brianna Haller, PA-C and Raj Nagaraj, MBBS, MPH

JEDI Committee Members

The Section of Hospital Medicine Committee is composed of representatives from each of our Wake Forest Baptist Health sites, including Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Davie Medical Center, High Point Medical Center, Lexington Medical Center and Wilkes Medical Center.

Brianna Pearson

Co-Director

Leah Snipe

Co-Director

Raj Nagaraj

Sumera Andleeb

Edmee Francois

Nicolas Haller

Jacqueline Lippert

William Lippert

Manjunath Chirakanahalli Mahadevappa, MBBS, MPH

Manjunath Mahadevappa

Demetra Gibson

Kristin Lindaman

Luke Seminara

Accomplishments

JEDI Lecture Series

This series provides a forum for our Hospital Medicine providers to deepen their knowledge and awareness of issues and opportunities for change in terms of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It encourages our Hospital Medicine providers to consider perspectives other than their own, broaden their basis for critical thought, and promote cultural understanding.

Previous Speakers

2022 - William T. Lewis, “Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Pie: Conversations With My White Friends About Race”.

2023 - Maria Uloko, MD, “Allyship Through Coaching”.

2023 - Senator Graig Meyer, “Equity and Policy”.

2024 - Kimberly Sapre, PA-C, “Eliminating Health Disparities by Addressing Language Barriers".

2024 - Cedric Burke, “Magnetism of Positivity”.

Team-Building Exercises

We have created team building exercises for our providers in order to motivate them to work better together, develop their strengths, and to address any of their weaknesses.

Adjunct Faculty for our Advanced Practice Providers

We advocated for the advancement of our APPs. We have now established a blueprint to promotion as Adjunct Faculty members for our APPs.

Early and Late Call Schedule

At Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, we collaborated with leadership to create an early and late call schedule to make work schedules more flexible for our providers in order to improve their work-life balance. We modeled this schedule based on what already had been in place at some of our affiliated hospitals as well (e.g. Lexington Medical Center).

Bi-Annual Implicit Bias and Upstander Training

This is a case-based workshop that is mandatory for all providers to practice using strategies to address implicit bias and how to be an upstander when witnessing or being subject to microaggressions and overt harassment.

Pre-post survey evaluating effectiveness which showed change in perceived knowledge of implicit bias improved significantly.

JEDI Reporting Form

This is a third-party anonymous platform for providers to report microaggressions or harassment to create an inclusive and psychologically safe workplace.

Addressing Social Determinants of Health Using Learners and Hospitalist at Home Program

Surveying patients to understand barriers leading to and burden of food insecurity in our heart failure population.

Ongoing Integration

Ongoing integration with APP (Advanced Practice Providers) for DEI, Internal Medicine DEI Committee, and Charlotte Atrium Health Hospital Medicine DEI Committee.

Policies

Family Leave Policy

We advocated for more progressive family leave policies. Currently, any parent who is welcoming a new child to their home through birth or adoption will receive two weeks of paid parental bonding leave. Additionally, the parent who gives birth to the child (if applicable) will receive an additional six weeks (for vaginal delivery) or eight weeks (for a Cesarean delivery) of paid parental bonding leave. We are continuing to work with our leaders to improve this policy.

Lactation Room

A small refrigerator sits in a small room with a coffee table and couch

We worked closely with hospital leadership to enhance support for lactation rooms. We have acquired sufficient space, such that nursing mothers have a dedicated, private room for pumping. Our lactation room is conveniently located within the Section of Hospital Medicine offices for easy access when providing patient care.

Recruitment and Advancement

We have taken several steps to increase our diversity in recruitment for the Section of Hospital Medicine:

Requiring members of our Hospital Medicine Recruitment Committee undergo implicit bias training.
Amending our advertisements to emphasize the importance of diversity in our recruitment process.
Offering applicants the opportunity to meet with representatives from one of the system resource groups.

System Resource Group (SRG) Recruitment Collaboration

We have partnered with system resource groups so that when a candidate is interviewed, they have the opportunity to meet with a system resource group of their choice to enhance their sense of community and belonging to garner more diverse workforce.

Examples of SRG

Accessibility FOR ALL (A4A)
African American Women Exemplifying Commitment to Equity and Leadership (A2 WeXcel)
Asian Heritage and Allies (AHA)
UNIDOS (Hispanic/Latinx)
Indigenous People and Allies, Shalom Jewish
Jewish
EQualityOne for LGBTQ+
Muslim
Veterans Society: One Team One Mission and Atrium Health White Alliance for Racial Equity
Atrium Health White Allies for Racial Equity

Scholarships

Haller, B. Huang, C. Nagaraj, N. (2021, April). “Disparities and racism in health care” The Hospitalist Disparities and Racism in Health Care.

Nagaraj, N. Haller, B. McIntosh, D. Mills, Olivia. “Implicit Bias and Upstander Training Workshop”, SHM conference, 2021, virtual.

Future: Lippert, W. Snipe, L. Lane, M. Bolick, D. Nagaraj, R. (expected 2025 March) “What impact does the use of affinity groups have on the inclusivity of hiring practices for Hospital Medicine?” The Hospitalist.

Diversity and Inclusion Survey

We are surveying our entire Hospital Medicine group regarding diversity and inclusion and will be implementing particular interventions as a result of this survey. We will be comparing the surveys pre- and post-intervention with the intent of publishing our findings.