Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Embracing our differences makes us stronger.

At Tidelands Health, we celebrate diversity among our employee, volunteer and physician partners, patients, suppliers and the communities we serve. Our culture is built around a spirit of inclusion and the principle that everyone has an equal voice and deserves equal treatment regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Our long-standing embrace of diversity is part of our commitment to excellence and the pursuit of our mission – “We help people live better lives through better health.”

Workforce

We understand the strength of our organization is rooted in our team members. Only by bringing together a broad range of people with unique experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and ideas can we best serve our patients and the community. Through diversity, our patients benefit from a more engaged, qualified and innovative workforce.

Our commitment to workplace diversity and inclusion begins long before the recruitment and hiring process. Supported by the McRoy and Jo Skipper Initiative for Learning and Teaching, we encourage students of all backgrounds to pursue careers in health care through scholarships, internships, medical residency and a broad range of innovative programs.

Once hired, our team members benefit from a culture that celebrates differences, unique styles and approaches. Our Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council brings together representatives from across Tidelands Health to identify, recommend and promote inclusive diversity strategies that support fairness, equality and the achievement of our mission.

Patients

At Tidelands Health, we believe everyone deserves equitable access to high-quality, culturally appropriate care. Our goal is to provide a warm and welcoming environment that is responsive to the unique needs and perspectives of every patient.

Consistent with that commitment, we provide our team members with regular cultural competency training that begins during their orientation to our organization. We also offer services such as free medical language translation to support equal access to care for people with hearing loss or limited English proficiency and have placed emphasis on our web accessibility to support access among individuals with disabilities.

To verify that the quality of care we provide to patients is consistent regardless of race, ethnicity, age or language, we use data to measure patient care outcomes and identify opportunities for improvement.

Community

At Tidelands Health, we work in close collaboration with community partners to support the health and wellness of the region we serve. Every day, we are reaching outside the walls of our care locations to help people where they are – in homes, churches, schools and more.

One of our top priorities is addressing health equity, which recognizes that some people face greater hurdles to healthy living than others. Obstacles like poverty and discrimination and the consequences of both – lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and safe housing – mean those facing obstacles are more likely to have worse health outcomes.

Our efforts to address health equity are represented in varying disciplines and initiatives such as the Tidelands Community Care Network. Since its inception in 2012, Tidelands Community Care Network, in partnership with Access Health SC, The Duke Endowment and dozens of community partners, has helped thousands of community members in our region gain access to primary care, receive referrals to specialty care, establish appointments for behavioral health care and fill tens of thousands of prescriptions at no or low cost.

Helping to lead these efforts is our Community Engagement Health Equity Council, which provides support and guidance at the organizational and community levels to identify drivers of health inequity and oversee the implementation of actions to address them.

Leadership

Our commitment to diversity and inclusivity permeates our entire organization. From the top down, we believe our health system should represent the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of our community.

To coordinate and sustain our efforts, our managers and senior leaders are evaluated by measurable diversity and inclusion goals. We use a broad range of data, including patient care metrics and the results of workforce surveys, to help identify our successes and areas for improvement.

Our president and CEO, chief operating officer and chief human resources officer are each fellows of The Riley Institute’s Diversity Leaders Initiative at Furman University. As fellows of the award-winning program, which imparts deep knowledge and skills to manage and lead in an increasingly diverse environment, they work with other fellows from our region in small groups to examine and address issues critical to our community.

Our board of trustees is also actively engaged in our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. For example, the board’s Community Engagement Committee supports and guides the health system’s health equity initiatives, including service excellence and our community outreach and education efforts.

Suppliers

At Tidelands Health, we strive to provide opportunities to qualified businesses, including those that are owned by women, minorities, veterans and individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. We are committed to partnering with diverse suppliers of high-quality goods and services.