Organization Unveils Website to Attract More Latinos to Hospital Leadership Positions

The National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives (NFLHE) is unveiling its new website as it formally launches its organization today to address the lack of Hispanics in the command, or C-suite of hospitals and health systems.

‘We’re terribly excited about this new organization,- said NFLHE President Hank Hernandez, CEO of Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, TX. ‘I think we have made a huge leap forward in a relatively short time.

The new website, located at www.nflhe.org, will serve as a tool for health care executives and provide students and early mid-careerists an opportunity to learn more about entering the executive suite. Angela Anderson, NFLHE spokesperson, said the organization will continue to build on the website and provide resources to Latino students and mid-career health professionals who are seeking to advance in their careers.

‘Our organization will serve as a base where Latino health care professionals can reach out to each other in their regions and connect to fellowship programs and role models,- Anderson said. ‘It will allow young Latinos to learn about new health care opportunities and be more successful in strategically managing their careers.

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One troubling statistic for NFLHE is while Latinos make up 14 percent of the U.S. population, less than 1 percent of hospital chief executives are Hispanic. As a result, the organization is working to increase the representation of Latinos at the executive level of U.S. hospitals and health systems and provides a resource base of input from Latino executives in the areas of legislation, regulation and policy affecting the health and health care of U.S. Latino communities.

How it got started? Answering a call from Latino hospital executives in response to the nation’s diverse population, both The Health Research and Educational Trust and The Institute for Diversity in Health Management, backed by the American Hospital Association and the American College of Healthcare Executives, held a meeting in February 2005 to develop a strategy to encourage, support and advance Latino health care leadership and ensure culturally competent health care is provided to all Latinos in the U.S.

About 15 Latino chief executives from hospitals and health systems across the country formed the charter group to define the vision and provided guidance for a strategic plan to create a strong national organization. To respond to this gap in national health care leadership, the National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives was incorporated in July 2005.

‘We want young Latino health care professionals to start thinking of more than being the director of the radiology department; we want them to start thinking about leading the entire organization as a CEO,- Hernandez said.

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Hernandez is among the success stories in his field. He is one of the few Latino health care chief executives in the country. But Hernandez says reaching the C-suite didn’t happen overnight.

He started his career as a registered nurse. He spent 20 years in the Army, which lured him with the opportunity of attending college, something his family couldn’t afford. The retired Lieutenant Colonel earned his nursing degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Today, Hernandez holds a bachelor’s degree and two master degrees in Health Administration.

In 1994, Hernandez took a job as a vice president at a large nonprofit hospital in El Paso. After 24 months, Hernandez was successfully recruited by HCA Inc. to serve as CEO of Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso as the CEO where he has worked for 12 years. In El Paso, where 78 percent of the population is Latino, Hernandez oversees a border community with a wide array of issues which can affect the quality of the health-care experience, including cultural expectations, language barriers, diabetes and obesity.

HCA helped NFLHE get started with $125,000 over three years. HCA owns and operates about 172 hospitals, 95 freestanding surgery centers and facilities that provide extensive outpatient and ancillary services in the U.S., England and Switzerland.

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‘HCA talks the talk and walks the walk to promote diversity at its facilities, and we at NFLHE are very grateful to have a stalwart of the community support the start of our organization and our efforts to better represent all communities,- Hernandez said. ‘Without HCA, it would be much more difficult to help other Latinos reach the executive suite.-

NFLHE continues to pursue funding to fulfill its mission of bringing diversity to the nation’s hospitals and health care systems and giving a voice to Latino executives and the diverse communities they serve.

‘As long as patients in diverse communities need a voice, NFLHE will be here to represent them and assist our health care systems better serve them,- said NFLHE Treasurer Michael Anaya. He is chief executive officer at Colorado Plains Medical Center, which is part of the 50+ LifePoint Hospitals, Inc., family. ‘Having the support and funding of the health care industry is critical to the well-being of so many communities.