Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) encompasses how we support an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, and included.
Sandra Parker, manager of the Laboratory Department at Kettering Health Dayton, and her team are living that out.
Like many, Sandra faced a staffing shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several longtime team members retired, and younger staff left to pursue traveling lab roles.
Needing new team members, Sandra expanded her search beyond Ohio—overseas.
Today, nearly 80% of her team are from across the globe, including China, the Philippines, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Ghana.
Sandra shares how she and her team have helped ensure her international team members feel at home.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a medical laboratory technologist. I manage three laboratories within the Kettering Health system: Huber, Preble, and Dayton. I’ve been with Kettering Health since 1992.
What do you enjoy most about working at Kettering Health?
The people. I have an amazing group of people I work with, which makes it really easy for me to come to work every day.
How have you helped incorporate the international employees?
They weren’t really my efforts; it was the efforts of all our employees. We’re a team.
We were so excited when we found out we were going to have international hires that we all got together and came up with ideas about how we can make them feel at home and comfortable.
When they first started, the team decorated the lab entrance with “Hello and welcome” signs written in the languages of the international employees. They also provided each employee a personalized welcome note, a pen, notepad, and a Kettering Health cup with their name and facility. What do you do on an ongoing basis to help them feel included?
I make it a habit to come in extremely early so I can talk to third shift, and then I leave late so that we round with all our shifts.
But on a consistent basis, we call them in [to my office] and we’re asking, “What are you doing this weekend?” We try to help them navigate what’s going on in the city so they have things to do. We kind of help them adjust to our culture.
And they help us adjust to theirs. One employee likes to cook, so she brings in a lot of different dishes from her country and has us try them.
Last year, we had an “International Lab Week,” where we had the flags from each of their countries, and we brought in dishes from each country so everyone could taste them.”
Why do you believe DEI is important?
Having so many different perspectives helps us be more creative, see things differently, and gives us ideas for new workflows.
It’s the building block for the future. You need differences to relate to not only the patients, but also the people you work with.
Supporting DEI at Kettering Health
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