Marion County officials say changing name of DEI committee doesn’t change the 'mission'

The Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County changed the name of one of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees this summer. 

The renamed committee is now called the Cultural Excellence Committee. 

But officials say that change doesn’t represent a change to the committee’s mission.

The change comes as Indiana has worked to remove DEI language and positions across websites, departments and documents. Those changes include cutting nearly twenty contract positions from the state Office of Minority Health, changing health equity language in department materials, and limiting the public events that could be put on Indiana 211’s community calendar. 

Those changes were made at the behest of Governor Mike Braun, who made an executive order to end DEI initiatives in state government at the start of his term. 

The Marion County meeting happened in June of this year. The board of trustees quickly moved to change the name of the committee, saying that it better represented the scope of what it does. 

Board member Brenda Horn introduced the resolution, noting that the committee felt “the areas they’d been reporting on” no longer made sense under the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion name. 

The resolution on the name change was approved unanimously without comment. 

When reached for a statement on the change, Health and Hospital Corporation spokesperson Curt Brantingham said the mission of the corporation remained to protect the health of all residents, especially those historically underserved. 

“This mission has not wavered in the face of shifting political winds or evolving policy environments,” Brantingham wrote. “There have been no changes to the committee’s responsibilities or mission beyond the name update.”

Brantingham said the changes were not prompted by the Governor’s efforts to remove DEI initiatives from state government. 

“Equitable healthcare need not be a political issue as it is a public health imperative,” he said in a statement. “Scientific consensus confirms that health outcomes are shaped by the conditions in which people live, work and grow.”

Contact Health Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org.