Announcements from the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity

• Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month

  National Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off at Johns Hopkins on September 15th as honor and recognize our Hispanic faculty and staff members, students, patients and communities. The Hopkins Familia employee resource group in collaboration with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity invites you to participate in several virtual events throughout the month. Check out our event page for more information.

  Please take this opportunity to learn about the amazing ways your colleagues with Hispanic or Latinx backgrounds improve their community. Meet the Hispanic Heritage Month Achievers Award recipients.

  Alejandra Flores-Miller, Research Program Coordinator (JHU, Infectious Disease) has made tremendous contributions to Baltimore’s Latin community by establishing the first Latinx HIV outreach program at the Baltimore City Health Department. Since being established over ten years ago, this program has tested over 7,000 Spanish speaking Latinx for HIV and provided invaluable sexual health education for the community. In addition, Flores-Miller established the Latinx HIV Care team for Johns Hopkins which includes monthly support groups with same day linkage to care for new HIV diagnosis and patient navigation. This program has achieved over 90% viral load suppression rates and is a model of care. She helped develop the Sólo Se Vive Una Vez Campaign http://solovive.org/ which was so successful that it was adopted by the Maryland Department of Health.

  Sabrina Aloe, Registered Nurse (Labor & Delivery, Bayview Medical Center) was one of the first to volunteer for Juntos, a program established to improve the communication with LEP Latinx patients diagnosed with COVID-19. As a Juntos volunteer, Sabrina has made herself available to consult with COVID-19 patients 24-7. Her efforts have further supported the community as she continues to participate in many different community initiatives. She is committed and passionate about serving others, especially within the Latinx community whether by helping Centro SOL’s food distribution project to serve families impacted by COVID19, or with the Esperanza Center on their COVID 19 Hotline or through supporting community testing in heavily Latinx populations. By continuously serving to educate the community on proper ways to protect themselves and their families from the Coronavirus and linking them to helpful resources to diminish the pandemics impact, Sabrina models the core pillars of diversity inclusion leadership, integrity, excellence and collegiality.

  Angela M. Orozco, MD (Assistant Professor of Medicine, JHU/GIM) is a bilingual/bicultural physician trained in both pediatric and adult primary care, serving underinsured Latinx families. Dr. Orozco serves as both a bridge for patients who age-out of our pediatric practice as well as a critical connection for parents of children who may need a medical home of their own. . Outside of her clinical duties, Dr. Orozco can be found volunteering at the Esperanza Center, answering the hotline for uninsured Latinx adults needing COVID testing or detailed quarantine advice, and support connecting with other local resources. She has also volunteered with the Juntos consult service, speaking with Latinx families, ensuring that they receive accurate medial information in their preferred language. By speaking with these Latinx families, it enables the patients, who are often hospitalized, to trust the service providers and the care plan administered.

  Veronica Molina (Patient Clerical Assistant, Howard County General Hospital) understands the value and importance of communication in health care and also the challenges some patients may feel being hospitalized and away from family, through her interactions with patients. She took the initiative to become a qualified bilingual interpreter and through her interpretation, warm smile and pleasant demeanor, she is able to bring calm and comfort to Latinx patients. Molina engages hospitalized patients to bring family photos to decorate their surroundings through the JH Faces program, which serves as a resource to link Latinx patients to community resources. These resources are often necessary to ensure that the patient has what’s needed to continue their recovery once released from the hospital. In addition to her caring for the patients, Veronica is well respected by her peers and coworkers for her efforts to build camaraderie among staff through various engagement activities and for being a welcoming and positive presence on the unit.

• Nominate a Colleague for an Achievers Award

  The Achievers Award Program recognizes and highlights those across Johns Hopkins Medicine who exemplify excellence and exhibit our Johns Hopkins Medicine core values. Recipients will be recognized on Veterans Day.

  Johns Hopkins Medicine faculty, staff and learners who meet the following criteria are eligible to be nominated:

  • Must be of the community
  • Employed at Johns Hopkins for at least 1 year
  • Must be in good standing (attendance and good performance evaluations)
  • Must exemplify JHM core values
  • Demonstrates contributions to the communities they serve and/or represent
  • Contributes to the healthcare field and/or their surrounding communities

  Nominate a deserving colleague. Deadline to nominate: October 15, 2020
• Racial Discussion Resources

  We recognize that we have a lot more work to do to bring about systemic culture change that will address structural racism within our own organization and enhance the work experience for all of our employees. The JHM Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Health Equity (ODIHE) is committed to providing diversity, inclusion, health equity, and cultural competency training across Johns Hopkins Medicine and committed to listening, understanding and implementing strategies to advance and strengthen our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

  Below are lists of resources for your department/unit leadership and staff.

  #HopkinsStrongerTogether!

  • Context of the 2020 Civic Unrest
  • Town Hall Racial Discussion Template
  • Support Resources for Black Individuals and Communities
  • 10 Steps to Non-Optical Allyship
  • Suggested Readings, Documentaries, and Movies
    • Suggested Race Education Reading List
    • Additional Suggested Readings
    • JH Resource Guide
  • 400 Years of African-American History in Maryland
  • Johns Hopkins Stands in Solidarity Against Racism and Inequity
  • Tips for Managers in the Workplace
  • Interrupting Bias: Calling Out vs. Calling In

  
  

  Suggested Resources: Talking to Children About Race

  • Four Questions to Ask Yourself Before Talking to Your Kids About Racism
  • A Parent's Guide to Preventing and Responding to Prejudice
  • "But Daddy, Why Was He Shot?": How to Talk to Children about Race
  • Talking to Kids about Ahmaud
  • I'm a White Mother of a Black Son and We All Need to Talk to Our Kids About Ahmaud Arbery
  • White Parents: Here's How To (and How Not To) Talk to Your Kids About Racism
  • A Conversation to Consider: Get Home Safely: 10 Rules of Survival
  • Imani Perry | Breathe: A Letter to My Sons (Interview, Book Link, Article)
  • WBUR.ORG Interview on The Importance of Addressing Race with Your Children
  • How to Talk to Your Children about Protests and Racism
  • Talking to Kids About Race
  • Resources for Talking About Race, Racism and Racialized Violence with Kids
  • 10 Ways to Start a Conversation About Race
  • Harford County Public Library: Resources on Discussing Racism
• COVID-19 Resources

  As we face this unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak, we would like to highlight available resources for our Johns Hopkins employees and the within our community.

  JHM Internal Staff Resources
  JHM Internal Clinical Resources
  Johns Hopkins Children’s Center Resources for Families
  Johns Hopkins Community Resources​​​​​​​