History

In 2007, Adventist HealthCare established the Center on Health Disparities to help achieve health equity by reducing and eliminating health disparities in the communities it serves.  The Center on Health Disparities was created to raise community awareness, improve capacity, and develop solutions to eliminate local disparities in health care.

Our Mission

Adventist HealthCare established this Center, part of its Vision for Expanded Access, to reduce and eliminate disparities in health status and health care access, treatment, quality, and outcomes among local residents.  Based on recommendations from a Blue Ribbon Panel of experts, the Center was organized into three areas: Education and Training, Health Care Services, and Research.

Some of the progress that we have achieved in these areas includes delivering culturally competent care training for health professionals and interpreter training for qualified bilingual staff, partnering with community organizations to provide services to minority and underserved populations, and releasing four health disparities progress reports to the community at our annual conferences.  

Our Vision

To become a nationally recognized leader in population-based, community-integrated strategies to reduce disparities and promote health equity.

Our Goals

Quality: Enhance healthcare professionals’ ability to provide patient-centered, equitable care that respects individual patient preferences, needs, and values regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status.

Service:  Improve patient experience by making quality health care and services accessible to people in our community through culturally competent practices, policies, providers, and staff.

Community: Partner with organizations to make quality health care and services available and accessible to people in our community.

Research: Become a nationally recognized leader in conducting research into the incidence of disparities and effective strategies to promote health equity.

The Center on Health Disparities Advisory Board

In December 2005, Adventist HealthCare announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Panel to provide guidance and direction for the creation of a Center on Health Disparities. Comprised of a distinguished array of experts with experience in addressing health care issues among various populations, this panel continues to serve today in an advisory capacity to the Center on Health Disparities.

Advisory Board Members

Aisha Bivens, JD, BSN
Associate Vice President of Clinical Effectiveness
Washington Adventist Hospital

Perry Chan
Senior Program Coordinator, Asian American Health Initiative
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services

Lisa Cullins, MD
Director, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Adventist Behavioral Health

Irene Dankwa-Mullan MD, MPH
Director, Office of Innovation and Program Coordination
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institutes of Health

Gaurov Dayal, MD
Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer
Adventist HealthCare

Steve Galen, MS
President and CEO
Primary Care Coalition of Montgomery County

Carol W. Garvey, MD, MPH
Chair
Primary Care Coalition

Carlessia Hussein, DrPH, RN
Director, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Judy Lichty, MPH
Regional Director, Prevention and Wellness
Adventist HealthCare

Skip Margot, RN, MS
CNE and VP of Patient Care Services
Shady Grove Adventist Hospital

Sonia Mora, RN
Manager, Public Health Services/Latino Health Initiative
Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services

Richard “Dick” Pavlin, MHCA
Executive Director
Mercy Health Clinic

Olivia Carter-Pokras, PhD
Associate Professor
University of Maryland College Park, School of Public Health

Howard Ross
Chief Learning Officer
Cook Ross, Inc.

Terrence P. Sheehan, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital of Maryland

Tom Sweeney, RN, MBA, FACHE
Vice President – Chief Nursing Officer
Washington Adventist Hospital

Barbette Weimer-Elder, MS
Executive Director, Education Institute
Adventist HealthCare

Lois A. Wessel, RN CFNP
Associate Director for Programs
Association of Clinicians for the Underserved