Courtesy of BJC Healthcare
Starting November 1, St. Louis native Steven Player will become the vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion for BJC HealthCare. In a statement, BJC said the new role was created to further the hospital network's mission in creating a culturally sensitive and diverse workforce.
Player began working for BJC in 1995 as an intern while pursuing his doctorate of pharmacy from Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy in New Orleans. His résumé includes 16 years as a practicing pharmacist with BJC, a master’s in business administration from Webster University in 2006, and a certificate in diversity management in health care from the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity and Georgetown University in 2015.
Among his other accomplishments: He co-founded the BJH, Express Scripts and St. Louis College of Pharmacy (BESt) Pharmacy Summer Institute and the Barnes-Jewish Hospital-Xavier University College of Pharmacy collaboration. Both serve as a diverse workforce pipeline into the health care field.
In August 2014, he became the director and eventually executive director of the Center for Diversity and Cultural Competency where he oversaw diversity and inclusion education for Barnes Jewish Hospital and their extensive language services. He began his role the same week Michael Brown was shot and killed. "It was truly a watershed moment," he recalls. "All the trauma that was happening in the community was affecting our employees and patients." It taught him and his colleagues a lot about supporting each other—a large aspect of his new position. Here, he explains the role, its importance, and how BJC can propel forward.
What will your role as the new vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion entail? I will set the direction and strategy to advance BJC Healthcare’s diversity, equity, and inclusion across our health care system while creating a sense of belonging for our team members and patients. We will start by looking at what practices have worked well for peers who are excelling in equity of care. Also, we will look at employee engagement surveys, patient experience and outcome surveys, community advisory committees, focus groups, and any of our other metrics and align our goals accordingly. We have to know where we are today in order to start identifying the true gaps and what we will focus on.
What do you hope to accomplish with this position? My goals are to close any gaps in employment experience by increasing diversity representation in our leadership ranks. Also, [I will] work to retain talented employees by creating a viable career ladder and bringing in new talent. I also want to provide equity of care for our patients, to ensure all patients receive culturally competent care minimizing unconscious biases.
Why is diversity and cultural competency important, especially in health care? Many studies show diverse organizations outperform non-diverse ones. So, it’s economically beneficial to leverage the diversity on your team. This means not just hiring people of diverse backgrounds only for entry-level jobs, but also for higher-level ones like managers up to board members. If health organizations don’t focus on cultural awareness, they risk not taking into consideration many of the social determinants of health that prevent effective access to care. This includes the environment that the individuals are coming from, the resources available, and the support individuals need to fully care for themselves.
This year has brought to light many health care disparities for many people. How has the pandemic further exacerbated these disparities? I don’t know if it’s an exacerbation. It's more so a realization. It’s a realization that our more socially isolated communities are typically Black and Brown communities that have been divested in. These communities experience food deserts, transportation challenges, lack of access to health care, disinvestment of educational systems, economic mobility, and infrastructure. [These things] all attribute to the historical placement of such communities. So, what COVID-19 has done is to highlight that. We know preexisting or comorbidities can increase the risk for contracting COVID-19, and thus, the impact of COVID-19 itself is much more severe. Data shows the rate of infection, hospitalization and even death due to COVID-19 continues to be disproportionately represented in the African-American, Black, and Brown communities. COVID is really continuing to pull back the covers on what I attribute to institutional racism and practices—not only in St. Louis but across our country.
How have you seen the focus on diversity and cultural competency evolve since you started working at BJC in 1995? First, it was just training you would go to if you got in trouble by saying/doing something you shouldn’t have. It was just whatever was the “flavor of the month.” Then, in 2006, it matured to establishing the Center for Diversity and Culture Competency. This was the first official resource department for diversity and inclusion. Since then, it’s matured to our board and leadership consisting of two vice presidents. My team will lean on community engagement for the standpoint of workforce development and diversity development. And Dr. Jason Purnell will lead in community engagement increasing health access and outcomes. So community health improvement. An example of this is the Pride LGBTQ group and diversity counsel who enhanced our benefits package for our employees to be more inclusive of trans benefits. Also, our language in our policies and patient materials are more gender-inclusive.
What motivated you to focus on cultural competency? My experiences motivate me. Growing up in the Central West End I was spoiled by the diversity in my neighborhood and the academic medical center. I went to a St. Louis magnet school until high school. Then due to the volunteer transfer program, I started attending a different school and learned what happens when you are not truly valued for who you are. Then, I attended a historically Black college where I saw my culture and diversity celebrated, which was empowering. This college also promoted the ability to provide care in a culturally competent manner. I also saw what great care looks like and what not-so-great care looks like. This helps me appreciate that we should provide equity of care for everyone. My parents taught me that no one is better than me. If everyone is given the same opportunity, support, and resources, they can thrive: “It’s your responsibility, son, wherever you can, to ensure that happens.”
