Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH) Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Odesa Stapleton has been named one of the 2024 Hospital and Health System Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officers to know by Becker’s Hospital Review.
“When hospitals and health systems weave diversity, equity and inclusion into their foundations, patients and staff members alike reap the rewards,” Becker’s said in its announcement. “DEI leaders are spearheading initiatives that cultivate safe, forward-thinking healthcare environments where all individuals feel embraced, appreciated and secure.”
Hospitals and health systems that commit to an organizational culture of diversity, equity and inclusion create safer and more engaging environments for patients, providers and the communities they serve.
The prestigious list recognizes 111 DEI leaders who are implementing training programs, establishing business resource groups, creating scholarship programs and improving hiring practices in an effort to enhance health equity within their organizations and communities.
Stapleton joined Bon Secours Mercy Health in 2019 from Neighborhood Health Services Corporation in Plainfield, N.J., where she was director of human resources and operations for nearly five years. Before that, she served as executive director of human relations for the Manatee County School District in Bradenton, Fla.
Her previous experience includes service as director of talent management for Verizon Communications, director of staffing, recruitment and employment for Delta Air Lines and as a labor and employment attorney for the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Company.
Stapleton is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and earned her law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. She is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, State Bar of Texas, American Bar Association and Alpha Phi Omega, and she is a certified secondary teacher. Early in her career, she researched and wrote labor and employment law books for businesses at Summers Press.