NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HLTH, the industry’s leading event for innovation in healthcare, today announced its partnership with Parity.org to jointly close the gender gap at the top of health industry organizations and to significantly move the dial toward parity across the industry.
“The health industry has significant room for improvement in promoting and supporting women executives”, said Jonathan Weiner, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of HLTH. “To demonstrate our commitment to raising awareness of the need for more women leaders in health organizations, HLTH is partnering with Parity.org to create the Health Industry ParityINDEX™, as well as taking the ParityPledge™ and calling on 1,000 healthcare companies to join us in doing so.”
The ParityINDEX™ is a tool that uses proprietary algorithms to measure companies’ gender diversity and help them benchmark their progress compared to their industry. By providing real-time results, the ParityINDEX™ gives companies actionable insights into how they can improve parity in their organization.
The Health Industry ParityINDEX™ measures the year-over-year change in the percentage of women executives in the health industry - and HLTH is calling on all health companies to register for the Health Industry ParityINDEX™ and join them on a mission to bring gender parity to the highest levels of business. The results of the Health Industry ParityINDEX™, as well as awards for top performers, will be announced annually at the HLTH event, beginning at HLTH 2019, October 27-30, 2019 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
In a study by Rock Health, among Fortune 500 health care firms, only 22% of executives and board members are women. There’s also been little change in the startup world, with women accounting for less than 12% of digital health CEOs and venture capital partners. On the health systems side, only about 26% of CEOs overseeing U.S. hospitals are women, according to a recent ACHE study.
“Our partnership with Parity.org offers a tremendous opportunity to galvanize the entire industry in an effort to increase the percent of women executives in organizations across the ecosystem of health," Weiner said.
HLTH’s goal is to get 1,000 healthcare companies to take the ParityPledge™ before and at HLTH 2019. Taking the ParityPledge™ is straightforward: companies simply commit their organization to interviewing and considering at least one qualified woman for every open role VP and higher, including the C-Suite and the Board.
Cathrin Stickney, Founder & CEO of Parity.org, commented, “A 2016 study by McKinsey revealed that while women hold 75% of healthcare jobs, they make up only 22% of healthcare executives - a number that hasn’t changed in three years. And it’s not a pipeline issue: women have been earning more degrees than men in health care administration and management since the 1980s. That means there are plenty of women who have been entering this field with the right degrees and qualifications for decades and are well into their careers by now. It’s important for the health industry to look at why it’s missing out on the talent and experience of these qualified women.”
HLTH invites - no, challenges - all organizations focused on reimagining health to both register for the Health Industry ParityINDEX™and take the ParityPledge™. See all of the companies who have already taken the pledge here.
Join HLTH in taking the ParityPledge™ by committing your organization today - and attend HLTH 2019 to hear the first year results of the Health Industry ParityINDEX™!
About HLTH
HLTH is the leading event for innovation in the health industry. It’s an unprecedented, large-scale forum for individuals, companies, and policymakers who are reshaping the health industry to learn, collaborate and evolve. The event is unique in bringing together all key stakeholders, ranging from established payers, providers, employers, and pharma services to disruptive startups and prolific investors, as well as representatives from government, academia, health associations and business groups, media, and industry analysts. By leading the development of a new dialogue and ecosystem, HLTH’s mission is to drive substantial reductions in health costs and dramatic increases in health quality. HLTH takes place on October 27-30, 2019 at the MGM Grands brand new conference facility.
About Parity.org
The Parity.org mission is to advocate for women’s representation at the highest levels of business—in the C-Suite and on the Board of Directors. Parity.org does this by promoting companies that demonstrate their commitment to gender parity, raising awareness about underlying issues, and providing facts and research that show the value in equal representation. The ParityPledge™ asks companies commit to simply interview at least one qualified woman for every open seat, VP and higher—including the C-Suite and the Board.
