Editor’s Page: Quiet From the Noise

Find Those Quiet Places 

A few weeks ago, I headed down to Louisville — or is it Looavul? Or Luhvul? — for the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association’s (ASCA) Annual Conference, a premiere event for anyone in the outpatient surgery space.

Nothing beats three days filled with in-person interactions with administrators and other surgical leaders, meetings with longtime readers and friends of the magazine, and a smorgasbord of relevant education — and new local cuisine.

In between educational sessions one day, I ducked away to what I thought was a quiet wing of the Louisville Convention Center to conduct a short interview with Jennifer Mieres, a renowned cardiologist (American Heart Association’s 2022 Physician of the Year!) and Northwell Health’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, the subject of this month’s cover story. I even purchased a pair of noise-cancelling headphones specifically for the occasion.

Then, right when Dr. Mieres was really getting into her response to my first question, it happened. A sea of attendees decided to exit the exhibit hall at exactly the same moment, and the cacophonous sounds of the mob ricocheted off the cavernous convention hall walls.

Good thing I purchased those noise-cancelling headphones.

“Wow, what is going on? What is that noise in the background?” Dr. Mieres asked.

So much for those noise-cancelling headphones.

After admirably attempting to power through the interview, Dr. Mieres politely asked if we could reschedule our talk. She said she’d find the time because the subject matter was so important.

Diversity, equity and inclusion are indeed important. AORN, our magazine’s parent company, has made DEI a part of its Core Values, and since 2020 Outpatient Surgery Magazine has dedicated the cover story of our June edition to this topic — in addition to our regular DEI column that runs throughout the year. We have also added a DEI category to our OR Excellence Awards.

A few days after my headphone debacle, I reconnected with Dr. Mieres and spoke to her for much longer than our original interview had been scheduled for. Northwell’s journey to achieve healthcare equity has been in motion for more than a decade, so it was impossible to capture everything they’ve done in a single article, but I hope we’ve conveyed at least some small sense of how dedicated the health system — and its leadership — is implementing DEI initiatives the right way: with methodical communication, careful analysis and reams of data to support their every move.

I also hope some readers, whatever the size of their facilities, can glean a few ideas from Northwell’s approach. And if you want more, don’t hesitate to reach out and I’ll point you to where you can go to find additional info (there’s lots).

When I went back over my notes, I kept coming back to one particular phrase that Dr. Mieres said: “Diversity can be a ‘polarizing’ term.”

She’s right, of course. Like just about everything today, diversity — the simple concept that we’restronger because of our differences — can be controversial, misconstrued and twisted to fit certain preconceived narratives.

As constant as our ultra-polarized, knee-jerk reactions tend to be, it doesn’t need to be this way. I honestly believe that if we took the time to find quiet places away from all the noise and truly listened to one another, we’d come to find the vast majority of us want the same thing as Dr. Mieres: True Equity in health care. OSM