Jefferson Joins Time’s Up Healthcare as a Signatory, Makes Commitment to Equity in the Workplace

PHILADELPHIA – Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health have joined a network of leaders organizing across the health care industry to bring safety, equity and dignity to their workplaces for women. By signing the TIME’S UP Healthcare commitment, Jefferson pledges to cultivate a professional and compassionate workplace environment preventing sexual harassment and gender inequity, while protecting and aiding those vulnerable to harassment and discrimination.

Inspired by the messages of TIME’S UP and galvanized by persistent data on gender inequities in health care careers and an entrenched culture of harassment, an energized group of women came together to form TIME’S UP Healthcare. Over the past six months, TIME’S UP Healthcare has grown to a group of 50 founding members and 13 senior advisors, and is associated with a network of leading institutions in health care, all rallying around a call to increase safety and equity in the industry. Resa E. Lewiss, MD, a professor of Emergency Medicine, and Heather J. Logghe, MD, a surgical research fellow at Thomas Jefferson University, are among founding members.

“Sexual harassment and gender inequality has no place at Jefferson or anywhere in health care or education,” said Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, President of Thomas Jefferson University and CEO of Jefferson Health. “I am proud that Thomas Jefferson University’s own Resa Lewiss and Heather Logghe are founding members of TIME’S UP, and that now the enterprise as a whole has pledged to support them – and all employees—in continuing to cultivate a safe, respectful and equitable workplace.” 

TIME’S UP Healthcare is made up of women from diverse backgrounds and specialties ranging from emergency medicine to psychiatry. Its founders and leaders represent a wide spectrum of health care professionals including doctors, nurses, physician assistants, clinical pharmacists and more, steadfast in the shared goal of improving gender equity and decreasing the burden of sexual harassment in health care. In recognition of the fact that problems of gender inequity and sexual harassment affect all health care workers, TIME’S UP Healthcare organizers are committed to unifying professionals across fields, and engaging and supporting organizations and individuals at every level of health care delivery.

TIME’S UP Healthcare is also supported by a range of partners including the American Medical Women’s Association, American College of Physicians, Service Employees International Union, American Nurses Association and Council of Medical Subspecialties. These organizations have publicly declared their commitment to TIME’S UP Healthcare’s organizational principles: 1) sexual harassment and gender inequity have no place in the health care workplace; 2) every employee should have equitable opportunity, support and compensation; and 3) we cannot address a problem without understanding its scope and impact.

Visit TIME’S UP Healthcare to learn more.

Media Contact:
Angela Showell
Director, News and Media Relations
Thomas Jefferson University
angela.showell@jefferson.edu
215-503-1104