Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Dr. Hausmann is also being recognized for promoting civility, respect, engagement, and inclusion in the workplace and advancing understanding regarding racial and ethnic differences in patient health care experiences within and between VA facilities.

Leslie Hausmann Selected as 2014 VA Secretary’s Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Awardee

Leslie R. M. Hausmann, PhD, CHERP Core Investigator and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, was selected for the Secretary’s 4th Annual Diversity and Inclusion Excellence Awards Program. Her nomination for this prestigious national award by the VA Office of Diversity and Inclusion was approved by the Secretary of VA, Robert A. McDonald.

Dr. Hausmann, a highly accomplished heath equity researcher, is being recognized for achieving outstanding results through leadership and innovation in the areas of VA workplace diversity and inclusion. 
“In addition to advancing the science of health equity research, Dr. Hausmann embraces opportunities to serve the VHA,” says Michael J. Fine, MD, MSc, Director of the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP).  “Her work expands upon our mission to promote high quality and equitable health care for Veterans.” 

Dr. Hausmann’s noteworthy efforts to promote and embrace diversity in the VA workplace include mentoring junior faculty as well as rising high school seniors from underrepresented minority groups.   She also served as a founding member of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) Civility Initiative Committee formed to promote civility and respect among VAPHS employees. Her dedication to fostering an environment in which people from all backgrounds feel valued and respected is also reflected in the research and quality improvement projects she leads as an investigator at CHERP. She has partnered with the VHA Office of Health Equity (OHE) to develop and pilot test a novel cultural competency training program to educate Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs) in the VA Healthcare System about unconscious bias and ways to prevent unconscious bias from negatively affecting patient care. Dr. Hausmann also led a national study of VA outpatients that demonstrated racial and ethnic differences in health care experiences of varying magnitude within and across VA facilities.  The study identified targets for interventions to reduce racial/ethnic differences in health care experiences by focusing efforts on facilities with larger black or Hispanic patient populations and meeting the needs of patients from the most underrepresented minority groups. Dr. Hausmann continues to promote both a diverse work force and equity in health care experiences of Veterans through her ongoing service, research, and quality improvement efforts at VAPHS.

See the link below for more information about this award:
http://www.diversity.va.gov/programs/sec-awards.aspx

Dr. Hausmann is being recognized for her efforts to increase the representation of less than expected groups in the health sciences by mentoring diverse students in clinical research activities. She is also being recognized for promoting civility, respect, engagement, and inclusion in the workplace; improving cultural competency through training opportunities; advancing understanding regarding racial and ethnic differences in patient health care experiences within and between VA facilities; improving the quality and equity of blood pressure control among Veterans with hypertension; advancing the science of health equity research; and providing service to the national health equity research community.