Being diverse and inclusive
is our way of life.
Together, we take a stand.

At Novant Health, we know social injustice affects us all. That’s why diversity, inclusion and health equity have always been at the core of what we do. We commit to these tenets every day through our organization’s mission, vision, values and promise. We are passionate about caring for all lives – our fellow team members, our patients and our communities.

Our ongoing commitment to remarkable in all our communities guides the work we’ve done and continue to do. Here’s how we put our principles into practice:

Improving access to care

• Developing a robust partnership in the ONE Charlotte Health Alliance helps improve access to healthcare for underserved communities in Charlotte and address long-term outcomes. ONE Charlotte stemmed from the civil unrest that occurred after the 2016 police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.
• Removing barriers to care by investing in community clinics, mobile cruisers and innovative wellness & screening initiatives. This is to ensure vital access to primary and preventative care services are available where and when our communities need us, including our communities most in need.
• Deploying mobile health units in communities with limited access to COVID-19 screening and respiratory care. Here, we’re distributing free masks and providing education to our most vulnerable community members.

Supporting economic health

• Partnering with more than 400 diverse suppliers since 2006 to boost our commitment to working with small businesses owned by women, ethnic minorities, veterans and people with different abilities.
• Novant Health’s commitment to supporting our small businesses owned by women, ethnic minorities, veterans and people with different abilities recently received the Supplier Diversity Excellence Award from Vizient.
• Investing in upward mobility initiatives to improve social determinants of health, including committing $6 million to the Charlotte Housing Opportunity Investment Fund through Foundation for the Carolinas to address the affordable housing crisis. In 2019, Novant Health delivered $993.2 million in total community benefit, including $152.3 million in financial assistance to members in the communities we serve.

Cultivating diverse & inclusive culture

• Leading by example. Carl Armato our president and CEO, participates in CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion, a group of CEOs and presidents from 500 of the world's leading companies and business organizations who have pledged to use their voices to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
• Encouraging team member participation in 12 business resource groups (BRGs), organized around an aspect of common identity such as, age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and veteran status. We engage these BRGs in prominent messaging both inside and outside our organization, from our Hispanic/Latino BRGs creating es.NovantHealth.org, our Spanish-language website, to multiple BRGs contributing to the creation of a COVID-19 healthy habits infographic representing the seven most spoken languages across our footprint.
• Requiring diversity, inclusion and health equity courses for all team members and leaders. In fact, we have implemented Quality Interaction learning modules, which assist our team members identifying and overcoming biases so that we can provide remarkable, culturally competent care. Results showed that there was a significant growth in recognizing bias as a result of this training.
• Fostering an open dialogue among team members on difficult conversations through system-wide web chats and live blogs, including Day of Understanding, a nationwide discussion about diversity.

Together, our team stands against racism and any other form of inequality
in our communities. Stand with us.