North Texas is a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. But the last few years have reminded us that not all are afforded the same opportunities.

At Texas Health, we believe it is our responsibility to increase equity in everything we touch, from how we address healthcare disparities to creating opportunities for underrepresented talent pools to where we direct our dollars with vendors and suppliers.

In 2020, we embarked on a journey to create a more inclusive and diverse environment for our employees, our patients and the communities we are honored to serve. We set six strategic priorities to align initiatives across Texas Health and advance our work driving diversity, equity and inclusion.

One of those priorities is fostering supplier diversity and promoting an inclusive approach to procurement. There are many facets to this effort, but the most important involves the following:

1. If you are a government certified diverse supplier, we want to know about you and your company.
2. If an opportunity arises to do business with Texas Health, we want to make sure diverse suppliers know about it and have an opportunity to bid on the business.
3. And finally, whether a diverse supplier earns the business or not, we want to be transparent about the decision-making process and provide both guidance and mentorship, if appropriate.

1. If you are a government certified diverse supplier, we want to know about you and your company.
2. If an opportunity arises to do business with Texas Health, we want to make sure diverse suppliers know about it and have an opportunity to bid on the business.
3. And finally, whether a diverse supplier earns the business or not, we want to be transparent about the decision-making process and provide both guidance and mentorship, if appropriate.

Last year, we registered 68 new minority- and women-owned businesses in our Supplier Portal. And our spend with diverse suppliers increased from $21.3 million in 2021 to a run rate of $21.9 million in 2022.

Helping develop and mentor diverse businesses is also vitally important. Therefore, we’re engaged in numerous groups and task forces and are working with Cardinal Health and Owens and Minor to establish and participate in mentorship programs.

The health of our communities is not just based on the care we provide but the ability to provide fair and equitable opportunities to all. Please help us by spreading the word to diverse businesses within your networks. More information, as well as self-service vendor tools, are available here.