Austin, Texas-based Hanger, Inc. is stepping up to advance meaningful, concrete change against racism and inequality. The company has pledged to take “actionable steps that promote diversity and inclusion within the company and in the broader healthcare community.”
“At Hanger, we stand for inclusion and respect for all,” says Hanger President and CEO Vinit Asar. “In our Diversity & Inclusion Pledge, we are reaffirming our belief that our differences make us stronger healthcare providers and better members of our communities. We are also committing to taking thoughtful, tangible actions to help build a more inclusive profession that will ultimately better serve all.”
According to Hanger, its Diversity & Inclusion Pledge outlines five initial areas of focus for the company’s efforts:
- Dedicating clinical research to studying higher amputation rates among people of color.
- Committing to being part of attracting more diverse candidates to O&P graduate programs.
- Establishing the Hanger Diversity & Inclusion Council, chaired by President and CEO Vinit Asar.
- Expanding on the company’s unconscious bias training throughout the organization.
- Continuing to encourage participation in employee affinity groups for individuals with disabilities, people of color, the LGBTQ community, veterans, and women, as well as launching new groups.
We asked Hanger’s Director of Talent Management, Inclusion and Engagement, Lisa Lodyga-Uhl about how Hanger decided upon the initial areas of focus, and she told OTW, “The current national discussion and focus on race compelled us to examine race within orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) clinician and patient populations. I’m sure it’s not surprising to anyone in the O&P community that when we take a broad look at the clinician population—observing conference attendees, residency applicants, and our own Hanger team members—we find that this is not a racially diverse community. With regard to patients, data indicates that within the U.S., amputation is significantly more prevalent among people of color. Given both those situations, we quickly identified immediate actions we would take.”
“We also took a look within our own organization to identify ways we could not only foster more inclusion, but also help bring our team members along in our diversity and inclusion journey. Establishing education and affinity groups, which create positive spaces for team members to share experiences and learn together, and continuing our on-going efforts to develop women leaders, were good initial steps. Having identified specific actions for our pledge, we knew that establishing a Diversity & Inclusion Council, chaired by our President and CEO Vinit Asar, would be instrumental to monitoring progress and keeping our pledge relevant.”
Concerning their research on amputation rates among people of color, she stated, “The literature provides many examples of a higher risk and rate of amputation among people of color, particularly the Black population. To increase our awareness of health disparities we plan to examine several cohorts of diabetic patients, in varying geographies across the U.S., and examine the clinical pathway for individuals following diabetic ulceration.”
And to get at the heart of the issue, the company holds unconscious bias training.
Lodyga-Uhl commented to OTW, “One of the most powerful things we address in our unconscious bias training is raising self-awareness. You can see and hear the ‘ah-ha’ moments during the training when team members realize how bias sneaks into their decision-making process. That ‘ah-ha’ moment serves as a personal catalyst for changing behaviors. And while elevating self-awareness is a fantastic focus of the training, there’s a training outcome that I’m equally excited about—the training encourages conversations about bias and empowers people to call it out when they see it.”
“When team members work together in that way, we start creating positive change. Hanger’s senior leader and operating team members were the first to take the unconscious bias training, beginning in 2019, followed by attendees at our national, annual conference in February 2020. We’re now moving forward and offering it throughout the organization.”
