University Hospitals named for the ninth time as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere

CLEVELAND — University Hospitals has been recognized by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies. 

This is the ninth year University Hospitals has received this recognition and is one of only seven honorees in the health care providers’ category. In 2021, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 22 countries and 47 industries. The award underscores an ongoing institutional commitment to lead with integrity and prioritize ethical business practices.

“The past year has been a challenging experience for our health system, our community, the nation and the world,” said Cliff Megerian, MD, Chief Executive Officer of UH. “Healthcare providers were asked to answer the call following the outbreak of COVID-19, and I am extremely proud of the way our people at UH stepped up with courage and compassion to deliver testing, vaccines and care for patients. Our caregivers maintained high professional and ethical standards as they delivered the highest quality care to our patients and became a beacon of hope for our community.”

UH highlighted several programs to Ethisphere to demonstrate its commitment to integrity and social responsibility. At its core, UH promotes a culture based on values and ethics. That culture is supported by a robust compliance and ethics program committed to continuous improvement. In the recent past, UH has enhanced its enterprise risk management program, improved management of relationships of interest, and increased compliance counseling services. Further, UH continues to foster a Speak-Up Culture by reinforcing the message that every caregiver in every role is empowered to make a difference.

“UH’s intent to make a difference directly impacts the communities we serve,” said Valda Clark Christian, UH’s Chief Compliance Officer. “As noted, 2020 presented unprecedented challenges. Existing programs needed review and revision in order to preserve core elements in a pandemic-safe mode.  For example, hands-on cooking and nutrition classes co-hosted by the UH Rainbow Center for Women & Children and an adjacent grocery store were filmed for delivery via a virtual format in lieu of in-person classes. The UH Otis Moss Jr. Health Center Food for Life Market and Healthy Harvest programs traditionally provide free, fresh, healthy food and dietitian consultations on site to individuals suffering from food insecurity or dietary needs. In March 2020, the Market increased production and served a record number of food insecure patients and households due to skyrocketing food insecurity associated with the pandemic.  Additionally, for the first time the Rainbow Center provided bagged lunches curbside while school was out of session to help combat youth hunger.  UH also created new programming to address needs emerging from the pandemic.   To educate the broader Cleveland community on COVID-19 health and safety issues in general, and on specific strategies for safely operating during a pandemic, UH formed the Healthy Restart program. Through this initiative, UH authored a playbook for business and a playbook for schools.  Both documents were posted on the UH website for free, easy access to the community. Additionally, UH offered webinars, site visits and consultations to help community businesses, schools and organizations apply the Playbooks to their specific environments.

“UH is honored to receive Ethisphere recognition as one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies,” said Christian. “Such recognition is the product of a system-wide commitment to upholding our ethical standards and practicing our values daily. In times of change and challenge, those commitments and practices guide us in our quest to be the most trusted health care provider for our community.” 

Being a nine-time honoree underscores UH’s commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices ensuring long-term value to key stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, and suppliers.

“While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead – above all other institutions – on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity,” said Ethisphere CEO Timothy Erblich. “The World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at University Hospitals for earning the World’s Most Ethical Companies designation.”

Methodology & Scoring Grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, the World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity, and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe. This year, the process was streamlined and the question set was expanded to gauge how applicants are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social, and governance factors, safety, equity, and inclusion and social justice.

Honorees

The full list of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.

 

###

About University Hospitals / Cleveland, Ohio

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 19 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women’s Hospital, Ohio’s only hospital for women; University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, a high-volume national referral center for complex cardiovascular procedures; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women’s health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with 28,000 physicians and employees. 

 

Advancing the Science of Health and the Art of Compassion is UH’s vision for benefitting its patients into the future, and the organization’s unwavering mission is To Heal. To Teach. To Discover. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook @UniversityHospitals and Twitter @UHhospitals. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.

 

About the Ethisphere Institute The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.