The Democracy Collaborative's initiative to align hospitals in an effort to improve community health by increasing local hiring practices is taking root in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as the city engages with a team of large healthcare institutions committed to promoting and utilizing the strategies in the toolkits released as part of the initiative:
“Our focus is really on how can hospitals as a large economic employer really be drivers for more inclusive local economies,” said David Zuckerman, healthcare engagement manager at the Democracy Collaborative, a Washington D.C.–based advocacy organization that works to promote greater economic equity within communities.
The program is being launched in Albuquerque, where the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center is participating in collaboration with Presbyterian Healthcare Services, First Choice Community Healthcare, Central New Mexico Community College and the Albuquerque Public Schools. It's sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The initiative, Hospitals Aligned for Healthy Communities, is a resource for health providers looking to engage their communities in order to buy and hire locally... Read full article.