Who are our patients and our community? Who could be our patients and our community? These questions go beyond market share or SWOT analyses. As a non-veteran, cisgender gay man of Middle Eastern/Indo-Pakistani heritage born in Texas who was raised in a Muslim household, I don’t necessarily fit the picture that people expect for the CEO of a veterans health system in Alabama and Georgia. In fact, I was surprised to even find myself in this role.
As healthcare leaders, we may not always look like the communities we serve. And with the diversity across our nation that I choose to celebrate, we’re never going to look like or mirror all our patients. Please understand, my comments are not meant to take away from the importance of representation. Rather, they’re meant to underscore our responsibility to all our patients.
At the Department of Veterans Affairs, we have a motto: “We Serve All Who Served.” This statement is meant to demonstrate that we serve and respect our LGBTQ+ veterans, and it is often paired with rainbows to emphasize the point. To me, that statement and that rainbow mean even more. They demonstrate one of the most important principles we can hold as healthcare leaders: ensuring that all our patients and all our communities are served and that we create a safe environment for our employees to thrive regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, national origin or religion. In other words, ensuring that we lead inclusive organizations that recognize and value the great ideas and outcomes that can come from an inclusive workforce.
I may not look like or have the same demographics as some of my patients or the community around me, but that does not take away from my passion for serving my veteran community. Contrary to stereotypes, I meet a lot of veterans, patients and community members who share common circumstances, backgrounds and beliefs as me. Similarly, many of my healthcare leader peers may not look, speak, love or worship like their communities. Those differences do not and should never stop us from ensuring that we fulfill our responsibility.
One of the greatest advocates I’ve known for LGBTQ+ veterans is a heterosexual married veteran CEO in Tuscaloosa, Ala. His passion for serving all of those who served is a reminder to me of what true leadership looks like. He is not alone, as I have been fortunate and overjoyed to see that leadership from so many of my peers. I see a brighter future for healthcare because I also see that growing promise and passion from our rising health leaders and early careerists that I meet at ACHE’s Congress on Healthcare Leadership each year.
There is a lot of debate around our nation, and I’ve often heard the phrase “being politically correct” expressed in a negative manner throughout my life. As we learned through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, our healthcare delivery and work environment should never be about politics. Instead of being politically correct, I challenge myself and all my peers to focus instead on being inclusive and respectful. Healthcare should be about inclusion and respect and providing the best care and services possible.
As a senior healthcare executive, I want to ensure that all my veterans, including my LGBTQ+ veterans, know that our health system is a place where they can receive appropriate and supportive care. Unless our patients and our employees trust us, we are not able to deliver the best care or services. If we can’t do that, we can’t improve the health of our patients and community. Isn’t doing that our true goal?
I’m fortunate that I chose a career with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where leaders have explicitly supported LGBTQ+ veterans and employees with strong stances against discrimination, and where we continue to focus on health equity for all veterans. As a large employer recruiting constantly for our much-needed healthcare professionals, I want to create an environment where all staff can thrive and share my passion and drive for serving all our patients. Their success is where my true success and legacy lie.
With 20 years of involvement, from Student Associate to Fellow and now as past president of the Alabama Healthcare Executives Forum, I am proud to serve in an organization like ACHE that has made diversity and inclusion a core value and strategic initiative. This year, I’m taking on the responsibility as Chair of the ACHE LGBTQ+ Healthcare Leaders Community Committee. I am excited to join the legacy established by the amazing leaders before me. I was fortunate many years ago to personally see ACHE leadership’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. ACHE’s support of me had long-lasting consequences, as I was offered my postgraduate fellowship there as a direct result of attending my first Congress so many years ago as a student.
As we all work to improve services, increase our market share, stretch our resources and achieve high reliability, I repeat but add to my original questions: who are our patients and our community, who could be our patients and community, and how can we serve them better to achieve the best health possible?
Amir Farooqi, FACHE, is director/CEO of the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System, Montgomery and Tuskegee, Ala.; 2023–2024 Chair of the ACHE LGBTQ+ Healthcare Leaders Community Committee; and past president of Alabama Healthcare Executives Forum.