NEW: Blue Cross & Blue Shield RI Names First Diversity Officer
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) today announced the appointment of Visael “Bobby” Rodriguez to the position of Chief Diversity Officer.
In this newly created position, Rodriguez is responsible for assessing the internal and external environment/culture, developing and implementing strategies to attract, develop, and retain a high performing diverse workforce. He will provide guidance and counsel to leadership regarding the integration of cultural competence into short and long term corporate business plans, and support corporate multicultural strategies. In addition, he will be leading efforts to address healthcare disparities to improve the quality of health in lives of Rhode Island’s increasingly diverse residents.
A move to improve access for every Rhode Islander
“Language, cultural differences and low health literacy often contribute to inequities in healthcare for racial or ethnic minorities, particularly related to the treatment of chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease and stroke,” said Eric Gasbarro, vice president of human resources, corporate real estate and administration services. “Here at BCBSRI, we believe that every Rhode Islander deserves access to high quality healthcare. With Rhode Island’s minority population growing by more than 30 percent between 2000 and 2010, we felt it important to create some focus around addressing the increasingly diverse healthcare needs of the community we serve.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDifferent communities, different needs
According to Gasbarro, Rhode Island’s various racial and ethnic communities have very different healthcare needs. Consider that 15 percent of African Americans, 14 percent of Hispanics and 18 percent of American Indians suffer from adult onset diabetes, compared to only eight percent of the country’s Caucasian population. African Americans are more likely to develop and die from cancer than any other racial or ethnic group and Rhode Island’s Native American and African American communities have the highest rates of adult obesity.
“It would probably also surprise a lot of people to learn that nearly one-third of direct medical care expenditures for African Americans, Asians and Hispanics are directly related to healthcare inequalities,” continued Gasbarro. “In fact, between 2003 and 2006, the direct and indirect costs related to healthcare disparities totaled $1.24 trillion nationwide. Addressing these issues here in Rhode Island provides one more opportunity to improve the quality of local healthcare and help moderate healthcare costs.”
Bobby Rodriguez
Rodriguez joins BCBSRI from Baystate Health where he was responsible for the leadership and integration of corporate diversity and inclusion strategies for the nonprofit organization. Earlier in his career, he held positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield in Maryland where he spearheaded a major diversity and cultural competence initiative. He also previously held positions at Xerox Corporation.
Rodriguez earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management and Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts.
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