Becker's Hospital Review

29 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP American Hospital Association VP Joy Lewis to lead its health equity, inclusion strategies By Alia Paavola T he American Hospital Association has created a senior leader position to oversee its health equity and inclusion strategies and appointed Joy Lewis, its vice president for strategic health plan- ning, to fill it. Ms. Lewis also will serve as executive director of the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity. With the promotion, Ms. Lewis will join AHA's ex- ecutive management team, which consists of 15 leaders. n What will female leadership look like post-pandemic? By Morgan Haefner T he COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionate- ly affected women, leading to greater job loss and higher risk of exposure to the virus, espe- cially among Black and Latina women. The effects raise questions around what female leadership will look like post-pandemic, according to Forbes. The pandemic has shined an even brighter light on the deeply rooted inequalities women face, and threatens to negatively affect the gains in leadership equity women have made, according to the article. How women react to these challenges will have heavy consequences. The current crisis offers a chance to bring change to systems and antiquated power structures, the article states. But lasting progress will only be reached if equity stays "at the forefront of our re- covery efforts. If women have more power, we can rebuild our economies and societies fast- er and emerge more equitably. Power is parity," according to the article. n Female surgeons less likely to get NIH funding, study finds By Mackenzie Bean F emale surgeons are less likely to receive research fund- ing from the National Institutes of Health than their male peers — and if they do receive a grant, it's smaller, accord- ing to a study published in JAMA Surgery. Researchers analyzed gender disparities among 1,235 NIH grants given to 773 surgeons in 2019. Only 21.3 percent of grant awardees were women. Female surgeons also received less money per grant than men across all award types, researchers found. On average, men received $499,631 per research grant, while women received $428,109. Last year, no Black or Hispanic women, nor female orthopedic specialists, received a R01 grant, the original and oldest grant program used by NIH. Study authors said targeted efforts are needed to address these sex and racial/ethnic disparities among surgeon researchers. n American College of Cardiology to unveil women's leadership institute in 2021 By Mackenzie Bean T he American College of Cardiology will launch a wom- en's leadership institute in 2021 to support mid-career female physicians, the organization said Dec. 16. The Sandra J. Lewis Cardiovascular Women's Leadership Insti- tute will offer programs and resources to help female cardiolo- gists expand their leadership skills and identify new leadership opportunities. "For many women 15 to 20 years into their career, changes in responsibilities serve as an opportunity to reassess, reimagine and reinvent their professional lives," Sandra Lewis, MD, a car- diologist in Portland, Ore., whose donation of an undisclosed amount is funding the institute, said in a news release. "While this stage may serve as a professional renaissance for many, it is also a stage that further benefits from unique guidance and targeted leadership development in a successful transition for- ward." The institute's goal is to create a more diverse group of leaders within the field of cardiology and the American College of Cardiology. n

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