Women well-represented but other groups have low numbers
Women are well-represented in the Greater Toronto Area’s health-care leadership, according to a report released by Maytree and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (CivicAction), in partnership with Mount Sinai Hospital.
However, the number of visible minorities, people with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) individuals found in leadership are very low, found the survey of five local health integration networks, 28 hospitals and five continuing care accreditation commissions.
Highlights of the latest DiverseCity Counts report:
• Women make up 61 per cent of senior management teams and 40 per cent of governance board members.
• Only 16 per cent of senior management and 14 per cent of board members were reported as visible minorities. Four in 10 institutions reported no visible minorities in senior management, as did nearly one-fifth of boards.
• In senior management and on boards, only one per cent of leadership was reported to be people with a disability.
• About three to four per cent of leadership were reported as LGBQ individuals, though this includes a few institutions that reported many individuals, and a majority of institutions that reported none.
“It matters that leaders in the health care sector are diverse,” said report author Samir Sinha, director of geriatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University Health Network Hospitals. “Senior management teams and governance boards in health-care institutions play a critical role in setting mandates and priorities, and shaping services to help meet the needs of patients and employees. It is this leadership, for example, that has the influence and authority to recognize and acknowledge needs, approve systemic changes and prioritize and commit the resources necessary to respond.”
DiverseCity Counts is an initiative of DiverseCity: The Greater Toronto Leadership Project, a project of Maytree and the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (CivicAction), funded in part by the government of Ontario. The latest report can be found at DiverseCity.
