Equity & Inclusion

Vision & Mission

In August 2020, the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine Diversity Council under the leadership of our Vice Chair for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Nathalia Jimenez, MD, MPH, organized to promote an inclusive and equitable environment for the advancement of faculty, staff, and trainees that reflects the diverse population we serve. Rooted in principles of health equity, our Diversity Council, Associate Council members, and all members of our department continue to develop data-driven and collaborative initiatives in patient care, education, and research.

Why we do this

• I joined the anesthesiology department diversity council because the council’s aims, vision, and the diversity of lived experiences and perspectives on the council gives me optimism that our patients, peers, trainees, and other colleagues, can be treated with dignity and have equitable access to healthcare and education. I believe in the commitment to evaluating our existing policies and practices and instituting changes that will benefit all people.
• I am excited to be a member of the EDI Council because I believe it will take systemic changes to address discrimination based on race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other diversity factors. I hope to contribute to work towards increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion for employees in our department as well as the patients and families we serve.
• I joined the DEI committee to promote sustainable change to address the needs of the population we serve.
• Equity is not something that can be achieved once and last forever, but rather requires constant work to be maintained. I joined the EDI council to help our department obtain an honest assessment of our current inequities and to build long term strategies addressing those inequities head on.
• Why DEI is important to me…My father was a civil rights lawyer who took an important civil rights case to the US Supreme Court in 1979. My wife trained in general surgery in an era when women in general surgery were rare, and she was the first woman surgeon on the staff of Virginia Mason. During the 10 years I was chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology, we built a division of immigrants with remarkable diversity; for a number of years I was the only division member who was born in the United States.
• Empowering and providing equal opportunities to people from all walks of life and backgrounds is the key to a successful organization and I believe makes our society better as a whole. I’d like to play a small part in this process!
• I joined the council in part because of my role as a bioethicist: equity is integral to the ethical practice of medicine, and I look at inequities and discrimination through the lens of ethics. As a council member, my initial goals are to be a strong ally for BIPOC, to increase awareness of the harmful legacy of white supremacy and privilege, and to create space for discussions surrounding race, racism, and bias amongst department members.
• Because there were not many larger opportunities to impact change in my world besides small personal interactions, I decided working on the EDI council would be a substantial way I could “act locally, think globally”.
• I joined because I wanted to make a difference by shedding light on an insidious, crippling, societal problem that is impacting our vulnerable students and faculty.
• Confronting antiblackness in our profession is the utmost importance because it is killing our patients.
• I am determined to help our APM Department’s continuous efforts to recruit diverse groups of faculty, trainees, and staff members.