Health Equity Update #5 – Register for IHA Health Equity Action Day – June 18, 2021
June 1, 2021
MEMORANDUM
Registration is now open for IHA’s inaugural Health Equity Action Day, which will feature an all-star lineup of experts in health equity, diversity and inclusion and the statewide release of the “Racial Equity in Healthcare Progress Report”. We encourage all IHA members to participate in the June 18 event, scheduled to coincide with Juneteenth. Please see our brochure—IHA Health Equity Action Day—A Multi-Dimensional Approach to Effect Real Change—for the full agenda and description of the event. Please use this registration link to register all participating team members from your organization.
The event will begin at 9 a.m. with virtual educational programming and will include the following presenters, to name a few:
- Keynote speaker Michelle Silverthorn, Founder of Inclusion Nation;
- U.S. Senator Richard J. Durbin
- Governor J.B. Pritzker
- Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch;
- Ngozi Ezike, MD, Director, Illinois Department of Public Health;
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot;
- Allison Arwady, MD, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health; and
- Reverend Marshall Elijah Hatch, Sr., Pastor of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago.
After the virtual program, leaders and staff are asked to spend the afternoon working on an activity that advances health equity. Health Equity Action Day is a multi-dimensional approach to effect real change, and we are asking IHA members to take concrete action toward that change. Activities can be organizational, individual or choose-your-own based on work already underway at your hospital or health system. You can find a list of suggested activity options here.
To aid in your outreach efforts about the day, IHA has developed a Health Equity Action Day toolkit, now available on an IHA webpage dedicated to the event. This toolkit includes:
- A four-page, customizable brochure with the complete agenda;
- Health Equity Action Day FAQs;
- Copy for your communications;
- A customizable invitation inviting your state legislators to any afternoon activities you may be holding (IHA will be inviting all legislators to attend the morning programming);
- A customizable press release about your organization’s participation in the event; and
- Sample social media posts for the day of the event.
As part of our efforts to highlight your work on health equity, we invite all members to share a story about a health equity initiative and the positive impact it has had on the communities you serve. We ask you to send no more than 500 words and include a photo. Please email the stories to Valerie Culver at vculver@team-iha.org. We will add your organization’s story to our online Health Disparities Resource Hub, which will be unveiled at the event.
We look forward to full membership participation in Health Equity Action Day. From questions we’ve received from members, we know there is great interest in the event. We encourage all hospitals and health systems to join us in celebrating the work your organizations are already doing to advance health equity, to gain new insights from expert presenters and to take concrete action to achieve lasting change. Register today.
If you have general questions about Health Equity Action Day, please email us at IHAequityday@team-iha.org.
For further information, please contact IHA.