Meriter Health Services seeks to provide extraordinary customer service to all people who come for health care, for senior housing, for community health education, for business transactions and for employment. Building on efforts that had been developed over the years, the Meriter Diversity Initiative was formalized in 2001 to recognize and respond to demographic changes in South Central Wisconsin. Since then, a variety of steps have been taken to address the unique needs of an increasingly diverse population that includes patients, residents, potential employees, current employees and the community as a whole.

Meriter employees at Meriter's Annual Culture Fair, which has been held since 2002.

To Support a Diverse Workforce

• A Diversity Council comprised of employee volunteers, which sponsors a variety of initiatives to continuously improve cultural awareness and competency among staff.
• ESL (English as a Second Language) classes for employees to learn English.
• Casual "Cafeteria Chats" where ESL employees can practice their English with native speakers.
• An annual Culture Fair sponsored by the Diversity Council, featuring employees who share their cultural backgrounds.
• A Meriter Mediation Program, to serve as a resource for employees seeking to address issues in the workplace.
• Domestic partner insurance benefits.
• Cultural Competency Training for all managers.
• Cultural awareness workshops and educational programs for all staff.
• "Conversations on Diversity" in which small groups of employees are invited to visit with the President of the Hospital to share experiences related to diversity topics.
• A diversity column in the bi-weekly employee newsletter and a diversity page on Meriter's intranet.
• A diversity training component of the New Employee Orientation Program.
• A key business plan document (the "Meriter Quest for Quality") produced in Spanish as well as English.

For more information on diversity initiatives at Meriter, contact Diversity Council Team Leader Carlos Jaramillo at (608) 417-5642 or cjaramillo@meriter.com.
 

To Recruit a Diverse Workforce

• Increasing the diversity of our workforce by ensuring a diverse applicant pool for many jobs.
• Presentations on healthcare careers to students at middle schools with larger than average populations of minority students.
• Sponsorship of a "Health Career Exploration Day" for employees and high school students seeking to build careers in health care, with a focus on invitations to minority populations.
• Participation in the Wisconsin Nursing Redesign Consortium whose goal is to recruit a nursing workforce that represents gender, ethnic and racial diversity.
• Developing partnerships with post-secondary schools with high minority populations.

To Respond to the Needs of a Diverse Community

• A Minority Scholarship Program, which awards up to four scholarships a year to minority students pursuing health care careers.
• A Spanish section in the Meriter Web site.
• Signage in multiple languages within the hospital.
• A display case exclusively for cultural displays and information.
• Collaboration with selected community organizations to provide support for addressing diversity issues within the community.
• Sponsorship of a day of fishing on Madison lakes for adults and children with disabilities ("Fishing Has No Boundaries" annual event by Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Program).

For more information on how Meriter reaches out to the community, visit our Ways to Give section.