Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
At Allina Health, diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are fundamental to achieving our mission as a health care provider. We know that systemic racism, poverty and discrimination negatively impact the overall health and wellness of our communities. As an influential and intentional community member, we know it’s our responsibility to take action.
DEI&B Commitments
As a healthcare organization, we understand our great responsibility to the world around us. The way we care, hire, source products, invest, and serve the community around us is not peripheral—it’s an opportunity to put our values in action. We will continue to lead in equitable and inclusive practices, reflecting on our impact and refining our work.
As a health care
PROVIDER
As an
EMPLOYER
As a COMMUNITY
leader and partner
As a PURCHASER
of goods and services
As an INVESTOR
in our diverse community
By respecting and understanding the differences that shape our community, we enhance our ability to provide culturally sensitive care.
Allina Health uses its power as a purchaser to identify how we can help strengthen those areas in the communities we serve.
As a culturally-centered steward, we are motivated to understand the needs of the cities we serve, and make investments that do the most good possible.
Diversity fuels and uplifts our Allina community, allowing us to empathize and innovate for the patients and communities we serve.
We are accountable to patients, employees, and people who live in the communities we serve—of all races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexualities, abilities and economic means.
Allina Health Employee Resource Groups: Building a culture of allyship
We believe in the value of spaces where employees can build trust and relationship—one way this happens at Allina Health is through Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). ERGs are voluntary, employee-led communities that foster a diverse, inclusive workplace and serve as a support for members and organizations.
Through our ERGs, we experience silo-breaking and community-building as we interact with fellow Allina Health employees in a broader context. See our current groups below:
Stories of inclusion
Meet Christine Athmann, MD, a member of the White Earth Ojibwe tribe. Watch this brief video as she shares her journey of becoming a doctor and supporting a new generation of Native American providers through intentional mentoring relationships.
I grew up on the White Earth Reservation. I'm a descendant of the Ojibwe tribe. With a family that loved the outdoors, we fished, there was a lot of hunting, a very charmed upbringing. I was very lucky. But I never met a Native American physician so the idea of being a physician was not really on my radar.
Listen to your heart.
Not until the University of Minnesota contacted me before my senior year of high school, and had said, you know what? I think you should think about being a doctor. I mean, that was-- that was huge. I'm Christine Athman, I'm a family physician.
And we'll let you know as soon as we get that result back.
I went to undergrad at the university of Minnesota, Morris, and then I finished up at University of Minnesota, medical school in 2007. And the mentors that they connected us with were Native physicians who had already walked that path. I would not be the physician that I am today without those programs and without those people.
So in 2013 I became assistant director at the Native American Center for Health Professions, and I was no longer the mentee. I had turned into the mentor. And it was a joy to be working with students.
You're kind of going in and out.
And it's been wonderful to watch them be successful in their careers. Now that I am a doctor and I'm busy practicing medicine, mentorship is still extremely important to me. Engaging and motivating and cheering on and being a source of support for our students. It's a joy to be working with students and have the privilege to pay it forward.