Becker's Hospital Review

29 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 10 best cities for women in tech By Katie Adams A rlington, Va., is the most accommodating U.S. city for women working in tech, according to research released Feb. 18 from finance tech company SmartAsset. SmartAsset compared 63 U.S. cities for which full U.S. Bureau of La- bor Statistics data was available on gender and salary in the tech workforce. It then ranked the cities according to their gender pay gaps in the tech workforce, income after housing, three-year growth in tech employment and what percentage women make up of all tech workers in the city. Data came from the Census Bureau's 2019 five-year American Com- munity Survey. SmartAsset examined data for cities that had at least 200,000 residents in 2019. Top 10 cities for women in tech: 1. Arlington, Va. 2. Washington, D.C. 3. Baltimore 4. Durham, N.C. 5. Chesapeake, Va. 6. Aurora, Colo. 7. Houston 8. Cincinnati 9. Albuquerque, N.M. 10. Jacksonville, Fla., tied with Long Beach, Calif. n Walmart heir to build medical school in Arkansas By Alia Paavola W almart heir Alice Walton said she plans to finance and build a medical school in northwest Arkansas. The Whole Health School of Medicine in Bentonville will be a nonprofit, independent entity, and students enrolled will receive a doctor of medicine degree, according to a March 4 announcement. The medical school plans to admit its first class of 40 to 50 students in fall 2023. Construction on the facility is scheduled to begin next year. "The Whole Health School of Medicine will help medical students rise to the health challenges of the 21st century through a reimagination of American medical education that incorporates mental, emotional, phys- ical and spiritual health, the elements of Whole Health, to help people live healthier and happier lives," Ms. Walton said in the news release. The project is related to the billionaire Walmart heir's Whole Health Institute, a nonprofit center promoting holistic wellness slated to break ground this spring. The institute is in Bentonville. n 6 ways Hennepin's chief health equity officer is closing care gaps By Hannah Mitchell A s chief health equity officer of Minneap- olis-based Hennepin Healthcare, Nneka Sederstrom, PhD, and her team worked to vaccinate thousands of members of underserved communities in February and March and are seri- ous about closing holes in access to healthcare. Here are six ways Dr. Sederstrom helped improve equity in Hennepin Healthcare's community during her first few months on the job: 1. In her role, she needed more than a title. She said she made it clear when accepting the position she needed authority and decision-making power to create change. 2. When first starting the position, Dr. Sederstrom was flooded with departments bringing attention to equity issues they wanted addressed. Her first step was figuring out where all the holes in health- care equity are located in a healthcare system. 3. Her team created pop-up clinics in mosques, churches and other community organizations to offer vaccines to the high-risk communities they serve. 4. Dr. Sederstrom said that as of March 10, her team had administered 200 first doses of vaccines through these pop-up clinics and will eventually administer around 500 doses of vaccines per week in the clinics. 5. Aside from pop-up clinics, her team is part- nering with public organizations to vaccinate homeless populations, prison inmates, teachers and more. She said they have vaccinated tens of thousands of community members through these efforts. 6. Community outreach can be financially benefi- cial for patients and the hospital, Dr. Sederstrom said. Preventive care keeps patients from needing to go to an emergency facility and paying a higher bill. It also makes healthcare access financially fea- sible for hospitals, as preventive care can lower the amount they spend on higher-cost care. n

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