Tulane Health System named a world's most ethical company

Ethisphere designation honors companies who understand the importance of leading, making values-based decisions, and their overall commitment to integrity

Tulane Health System, an affiliate of LCMC Health (NYSE:LCMC Health), one of the nation's leading healthcare providers, announced that it has been recognized for the 11th time by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as one of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies. LCMC Health, comprising more than 2,000 sites of care, including 185 hospitals across 20 states, is one of only seven honorees in the Healthcare Providers category.

"Tulane Health System is proud to be a part of LCMC Health, a company that understands and values ethical business practices," said Tom Patrias, Tulane Health System CEO. "This recognition not only reflects on LCMC Health but on the culture of Tulane Health System and the importance of doing what's right and best for the patients we serve, especially during such an unprecedented year involving the pandemic and weather emergencies like hurricanes and winter storms."

Lakeview Hospital , a campus of Tulane Medical Center, shares in this international designation. "We are committed to providing our community the highest standard of care, delivered with integrity, and this recognition is a testament to the dedication of our entire staff," said Hiral Patel, Lakeview Regional CEO. "I congratulate our team for stepping up during the pandemic, going above and beyond what was asked of them and outperforming year over year."

The COVID-19 pandemic was at the forefront of 2020, and LCMC Health responded by protecting its colleagues and patients and partnering with others to improve care beyond the organization. LCMC Health has not laid-off a single employee due to the pandemic, and in April, it instituted a pandemic pay program, which allowed the organization to continue to pay more than 127,000 colleagues, even when their hours were affected by the significant decrease in patients visiting hospitals across the country. Additionally, as part of LCMC Health, Tulane Health System, including Lakeview Regional, does not bill patients diagnosed with COVID-19, whether they have insurance or not, for testing or hospital care related to the treatment of COVID-19.

As a learning health system, LCMC Health analyzes data from its approximately 35 million patient encounters each year to develop best practices that improve patient care. To help combat COVID-19, the health system teamed up with Google and SADA on a data portal to help communities prepare and respond to COVID-19, offered more than $1 million to local community partners to aid in coronavirus relief efforts, and participated in the White House collaborative to provide up to 1,000 ventilators to other health systems.

Recognition by Ethisphere is in part an affirmation of LCMC Health's commitment to fostering a culture of diversity and belief that excellence in healthcare starts with a foundation of inclusion, compassion, and respect. LCMC Health continues to deliver on this promise exemplified in recent diversity and inclusion efforts, including its award-winning BRAVE Conversations program, which provides colleagues an opportunity to discuss complex topics in a safe and respectful setting. LCMC Health also announced a $10 million investment over the next three years in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).

Additionally, in response to a heightened focus on racial injustice, LCMC Health instituted a provisional social justice match, which supported gifts from colleagues to organizations and nonprofits supporting racial justice and addressing health equity for communities of color. In total, LCMC Health and its colleagues helped make an impact of $227,364 across 21 organizations from June 5 to July 31, 2020.

"While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, LCMC Health led 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 LCMC Health for earning the World's Most Ethical Companies designation."

In 2021, Ethisphere recognized 135 honorees spanning 22 countries and 47 industries.