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Diversity

At CHA, diversity is in our DNA.

Cambridge Health Alliance is a unique organization. We celebrate and embrace the individuality of staff, patients and communities.

We believe good healthcare is more than sick visits and surgeries. Our whole-person approach looks at both physical and mental health in addition to social determinants like housing and food security.

Our staff are both teachers and students in the delivery of multi-cultural and multi-dimensional care. They have developed a model that integrates mental health and screenings for social determinants of health into our primary care services, resulting in earlier interventions and reduced stigma.

A part of our diversity work focuses on being an anti-racist organization. Please read CHA's Anti-Racism Statement for more information.

As a prominent Boston-area teaching hospital, we are proud to serve the people who live and work in our communities and to be an employer of choice for thousands of talented professionals.

A CHA Discussion on Racial Justice

Listen to Dr. Xenia Johnson Bhembe's powerful comments and faith in what comes next regarding racial justice. This excerp was from an internal CHA panel focusing on anti-racism work at CHA.

Moving Forward: From Diversity to Justice and Health Equity

Diversity is embedded into CHA. We're looking to the future to do even more and be a leader in health equity and justice.

  • The Diverse Communities We Serve

    We are proud to serve a highly diverse patient population.

    2017 Race / Ethnicity Graphic

    (Data source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2010-2014 5-year estimates Provided by Ranjani Paradise, Institute for Community Health (rparadise@challiance.org)

  • Multilingual Services

    Cambridge Health Alliance serves one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse patient populations in the United States.

    Over half our patients speak a language other than English at home. Around 42% of our primary care patients have limited English proficiency and need a professional medical interpreter.

    To support them, CHA has built a robust Multicultural Affairs and Patient Services team. We regularly provide interpreter services in more than 60 languages to all CHA sites. This includes requests for the deaf or hard of hearing, including American Sign Language and CDI services.

    How We Do It

      • Professional medical interpreters via face-to-face, telephonic and video conference
      • Professional written translation services for forms, signage, and patient materials
      • Cultural and linguistic education for clinical and non-clinical staff
      • Language proficiency testing for bilingual providers

    In addition, Multicultural Affairs and Patient Services manages the Information Desk at our Cambridge and Somerville campuses. A multilingual team greets and assists patients and visitors to navigate each campus, enhancing the experience of care. Language access is available at each Information Desk and site maps are provided in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Haitian Creole.

  • Meeting Mental Health Needs

    Our Behavioral Health teams provide evaluation, counseling, and therapy and have targeted programs that meet the unique mental health needs of specific ethnic populations.

    Expert staff provide culturally competent care to hundreds of people with concerns ranging from mild anxiety and depression to learning disabilities, relationship problems, addictions, and chronic or acute mental illness.

  • Patients Bill of Rights

    Federal and state law provide for specific patient rights.

    At Cambridge Health Alliance, we recognize our responsibility to respect these rights as well as to inform you of them.

    Patient Rights and Responsibilities

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