PURPOSE: The purpose of the Cultural Competency Advisory Committee (CCAC) is to establish a respectful and welcoming environment within the organization for all persons as well as to develop programs and policies that will strive to achieve optimal health

Objectives:

1. Collaborate and develop partnerships throughout the facility to promote family centered care.

2. Recommend solutions (or refinements) to existing programs, services, policies, and/or business strategies that effectively meet the needs of patients and families.

3. Strengthen relationships between Prowers Medical Center and the community; to serve as a vital link between the hospital and the community.

4. Contribute to ongoing cultural competency education within Prowers Medical Center.

Procedure: The Roles and Responsibilities of the Cultural Competency Advisory Committee are to ensure that the Healthcare Team at Prowers Medical Center will provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care throughout the organization.

Mechanisms that are developed by the Cultural Competency Advisory Committee will utilize the CLAS Standards as a guide, and made accessible to the organization in order to provide equitable healthcare.

1. To serve as a voice for the patients and their families to improve their experience, as well as to ensure their voices are heard

2. To collect and maintain accurate and reliable demographic data to monitor and evaluate the impact of CLAS on health equity and reduce disparities to improve health outcomes

3. To assist in creating an organizational culture that is responsive, efficient, and effective in providing services while staying accountable to the community

4. To facilitate open and transparent two-way communication feedback mechanisms to enhance the resolution of conflicts and grievances within the organization and community

5. To increase the capacity of staff to provide services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate

6. To support a workforce that demonstrates the attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary to work effectively with diverse populations

7. To increase the quality of service, satisfaction, patient safety of patients and customers

8. To encourage team members from multiple levels within the organization to join and participate in the CCAC to ensure sustainability

9. To inform staff of CCAC meetings, trainings, and celebrations of successes

10. To document progress and lessons learned from experiences to allow the CCAC to respond to the needs of the organization

Documentation:

The following guidelines represent standards of care in implementing our Cultural Competency policy:

The 14 standards are organized by themes: Culturally Competent Care (Standards 1-3), Language Access Services (Standards 4-7), and Organizational Supports for Cultural Competence (Standards 8-14). Within this framework, there are three types of standards of varying stringency: mandates, guidelines, and recommendations as follows:

CLAS mandates are current Federal requirements for all recipients of Federal funds (Standards 4, 5, 6, and 7).

CLAS guidelines are activities recommended by OMH for adoption as mandates by Federal, State, and national accrediting agencies (Standards 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13).

CLAS recommendations are suggested by OMH for voluntary adoption by health care organizations (Standard 14).