Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At Children’s National, we are working to create a culture that leverages our differences to achieve excellence. We promote and practice compassion, commitment and connection in order to create strong partnerships with the community, our staff members, our patients and their families. 

Our diversity efforts continue to be recognized. Newsweek named Children’s National Hospital one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity 2024, the second such distinction in the two years the list has existed. The recognition is based on a “thorough examination of publicly available data, interviews with HR professionals, and an anonymous online survey conducted among a diverse group of employees at companies in the U.S.” Our organization received a total of 4.5 stars out of 5.

Children's National was also recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which honored our Pediatric Residency Program with the 2022 Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. The award recognizes programs working to diversity the underrepresented physician workforce and create inclusive workplaces.

Fostering Health Equity in the Community

Health equity ensures that all people have access to services and opportunities that enable healthy living. To raise awareness about health equity, our team performs research and seeks to effect change through health programs that help children in our community who experience inequities. We also work with the community to promote career opportunities and mentorship programs at Children’s National:

• Advancing health equity. There is clear evidence showing that structural racism is responsible for significant health disparities for people of color. Through research, community partnerships and advocacy, we are combating these serious public health concerns.
• Community Benefit Program. Children’s National extends beyond diversity and inclusion to help build communities where every child can grow up stronger. Our Community Benefit Program provides treatment, or promotes health and healing, as a response to identified community needs.
• School Health Collaborative. We understand that children spend much of their time in school; therefore we envision a school-friendly healthcare system designed to ensure all children reach optimal health and achieve their full academic potential. For more than two decades, our School Health Collaborative has served the school system by providing more than two dozen school-based programs (including oral health, mental health, reproductive health and school nursing) and administering 20 school-based health centers in three public school jurisdictions.
• Mentorship and career opportunities. Through a variety of community partnerships and programs, we introduce adolescents, teenagers and medical students to a future in medicine. We also provide them with access to biomedical research opportunities.

LGBTQ+ Care

We support our LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer) patients through several programs and services:

• The Youth Pride Clinic
• Gender Development Program
• Gender and Autism Program

Read more about LGBTQ+ support resources at Children's National.