By Jackie Kleppe, Staff Council Communications Committee member

While attending diversity training during his orientation to University of Iowa Office of Patient Financial Services in 2019, Emmet Oldham, Revenue Cycle Representative, quickly realized he could provide his own expertise, experience and value to the training by offering to support DEI related initiatives. Within a month of joining his new team, Oldham was already involved in the Health Services Support Building (HSSB) DEI Committee.

The HSSB DEI Committee was formed in 2019 as an avenue to help staff within the HSSB get informed about DEI initiatives, be open to new and diverse ideas and be willing to have the uncomfortable conversations to promote positive change. Both Oldham and James Jorris, Revenue Cycle Coordinator, who also represent staff council on the committee, have seen great growth and energy behind the committee. In just the past year, the committee has grown to nearly 30 volunteers, all from the departments housed in HSSB including the Patient Financial Services, Joint Office of Compliance, Professional Coding Division, HCIS, Health Information Management, and the Emergency Department.

Both Oldham and Jorris have been very active leaders on the committee leading to many accomplishments in the past year. They pulled on best practices from UI Staff Council for templates, establishing structure of a committee and sub committees and in establishing priorities around DEI work. Key accomplishments included creating a committee charter, establishing an executive board to working with leadership to accept and mandate DEI and BUILD training programs for managers just to name a few. Oldham has presentations with different staff lined up and said the ability to reach out to other departments has been key and adds, “We are seeing so many people join the committee because they want to be more involved, they want to fix issues or address concerns.”

Jorris says the approach to DEI initiatives has been very collaborative; one idea that came out of that collaborative spirit was to ask that the Committee and some of its initiatives be included in the building-wide newsletter, The Buzz. “We are finding a lot more people reaching out to us with things that they want to share or address. We have other departments now asking us to present on DEI topics and our success.” Jorris adds that while the committee does add more work to everyone’s plate, it is very much a joint effort. “It’s a team thing, not one person carries the load and other committee members pick up the slack and are there to help out.” He adds, “If you are passionate about a subject such as this, you find a way to balance your time between the work and DEI initiatives.”

For more information about the HSSB DEI Committee or to connect with committee members to develop or enhance your departmental or building-wide DEI initiatives, connect with any of the members below.

Andros, Braden – Application Developer/HCIS
Becker, Molly J – Support Services Specialist/ HIM
Conrad, Dana – Revenue Cycle Representative/PFS Research Billing
Dudley, Katherine A – Senior Financial Analyst/Finance and Accounting
Duncan, Stephanie M – Instructional Services Manager/PFS Admissions (FY 2021 DEI Leadership)
Fischer, Paul – Revenue Cycle Representative/PFS Urgent Admissions
Gumpper, Lisa R – Instructional Services Specialist/PFS Education
Haas, Ray – Human Resources Manager/PFS Human Resources
Hansen, Heather M – Instructional Services Coordinator/PFS Education
Holmes, Ashley M – Coding Coordinator/PCD Education and Training (FY 2021 DEI Leadership)
Jensen, Hilary – Human Resources Coordinator/PFS Human Resources
Jorris, James G – Revenue Cycle Coordinator/PFS Imaging and Payment Posting (FY 2021 DEI Leadership)
Kiebel, Gianna – Revenue Cycle Manager/PFS Hospital Follow Up/PHARM
Kilgore, Christopher M – Instructional Services Manager/PFS Education and Quality
Kramer, Nathan R – Revenue Cycle Representative/PFS Emergency Department
Lee, Rachel – Senior Compliance Coordinator/JOC Compliance
Loughrey, Kylene S – Compliance Coordinator/JOC Compliance
Loughrey, Robert E – Instructional Service Specialist/PFS Education
Matheason, Alexandria J – Revenue Cycle Manager/PFS Physician Follow-Up/PHARM
Murray, Michelle – Senior Compliance Coordinator/JOC Compliance
Nassif, Jonya L – Certified Medical Coder/PFS PCD
Oldham, Emmett – Revenue Cycle Representative/PFS Registration (FY 2021 DEI Leadership)
Skay, Kiley L – Talent Acquisition Specialist/PFS Human Resources
Stitz, Hailey – Human Resources Associate/PFS Human Resources
Tuttle, Jillian C – Senior Compliance Coordinator/JOC Compliance
Van Zante, Peggy J – Coding Coordinator/ PFS PCD Quality
Wilks, Aloha D – Coding Coordinator/PFS PCD Quality (FY 2021 DEI Leadership)
Wilks, Lashanda – Coding Coordinator/PFS PCD Quality