Evolve Health Alliance Striving to Share, Promote Best Practices and HR Innovation

The alliance is made up of six nationally ranked health systems across six states.

A group of six non-profit health systems have come together to form the Evolve Health Alliance, a partnership to focus on employee well-being and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The formation of the alliance, which was announced March 10, was created with the purpose of improving "the diversity, wellbeing and engagement of their respective workforces and, ultimately, improve patient care in their respective communities."

The member organizations for the alliance include:

• AdventHealth, in Altamonte Springs, Florida
• Atrium Health, in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Henry Ford Health System, in Detroit, Michigan
• Intermountain Healthcare, in Salt Lake City, Utah
• Northwell Health, in New Hyde Park, New York
• OhioHealth, in Columbus, Ohio

Having shared ideas and best practices throughout the pandemic, the organizations will work together to develop resources to enable the health systems to take on additional pressing workforce issues.

"Health systems around the country relied on each other's expertise during the pandemic in ways we had not experienced before," Maxine Carrington, senior vice president and chief people officer at Northwell Health, said in a statement. "We knew clinically that we were stronger together in advancing patient care, but we also recognized the benefit of collaborating with innovative and like-minded health systems to better prepare our workforces for the future."

The idea to form the alliance came during the height of the pandemic when Intermountain Healthcare and Northwell Health worked together to address the staff shortage both systems were experiencing.

"Collaboration is key for healthcare systems to successfully adapt to changing conditions and prepare for the future," Heather Brace, senior vice president and chief people officer of Intermountain Healthcare, said in a statement. "We know this alliance will help us evolve policies, practices, and initiatives that ultimately benefit our patients and the communities we serve."

The alliance will develop leadership management programs, which will allow members of each organization to participate in clinical and non-clinical skills development programing at other member organizations.

Jim Dunn, enterprise executive vice president and chief people and culture officer for Atrium Health, said in a statement that learning and sharing best practices is part of a health system's culture.

"Atrium Health is centered around providing not only the best patient care, but also providing the 'best place to care' for our teammates – so we work continuously to elevate our teammate experience," he said. "Learning from other innovators is critical to success and, ultimately, positively impacts patient experience."