Corewell Health Asks Employees to Swear Fealty to DEI

Corewell Health, one of the largest health systems operating in Michigan, is asking its employees to sign a document effectively pledging their belief in DEI.

The health system maintains its “Corewell Health Code of Excellence,” a set of standards intended to govern professional conduct within the health system.

“This Code of Excellence (Code) applies system-wide to all employed and non-employed team members (collectively referred to as team members) including providers, contractors, consultants, agents, students, volunteers and suppliers,” the document states.

A physician source with knowledge of the matter said that signing the document was mandatory for healthcare providers working with Corewell Health.

However, the document contains a concerning strain of identity politics.

Item 4 of the Code of Excellence includes the following affirmation:

“We value diversity, equity and inclusion. We embrace a diverse and inclusive organizational culture that fosters respect for all. At the same time, we acknowledge that inequities persist in our communities. We pledge to listen deeply and engage authentically with those impacted by systemic racism, so we can partner with others toward the goal of achieving health equity.”

In other words, Corewell Health is pushing its employees to sign a pledge affirming their belief in DEI.

And failing to do so comes with very severe consequences.

The attestation attached to the Code of Excellence reads as follows:

“If I violate the Code or other policies or procedures applicable to me as a Corewell Health team member, I may be subject to performance correction up to and including termination of employment or other relationship with Corewell Health and any of its affiliates, including Priority Health.”

Thus, Corewell Health team members must adhere to the tenets of DEI, or else risk losing their jobs.

This may sound extreme, but when compared with other Corewell Health initiatives, it’s clear its par for the course.

For instance, Corewell Health operates its Minority and Underrepresented Scholarship Programs, which includes the Health Equity and Leadership (HEAL) Scholars Program and the Minority Visiting Scholars Program.

The HEAL Scholars Program provides resident physicians with a $10,000 scholarship their first year in the program and a $5,000 scholarship each year thereafter throughout residency.

However, the program requires participants to be members of certain racial backgrounds.

“Scholars must be from an underrepresented minority background (African American/Black, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander),” the program description states.

The HEAL Scholars Program was the subject of multiple federal civil rights complaints filed by Do No Harm Senior Fellow Mark J. Perry.

The initial complaint alleged that, since Corewell Health received ample federal funding, the program’s racially discriminatory eligibility criteria violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which prohibits recipients of federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin).

Meanwhile, the second complaint against Michigan State University alleged that the university’s funding and promotion of the HEALS Scholars Program likewise violated Title VI, essentially making the HEALS Scholars Program a joint venture in illegal discrimination.

Corewell also operates the Minority Visiting Scholars Program, which requires applicants to be from “an underrepresented group,” which includes “marginalized racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQIA+ people, and individuals with disabilities.”

Simply put, it’s disturbing that any organization, much less a major healthcare organization, would impose this ideological oath on its employees and embody these ideals in its discriminatory programs.

These concepts are more than just trivial distractions from Corewell Health’s mission to provide quality medical care; they are dangerous, and lead to direct discrimination in healthcare.