Our People Make A Difference

Health Care Heroes Who Go Above and Beyond

We Thrive Through Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

UPMC aims to ensure that diversity, inclusion, equity, dignity, respect, and cultural awareness are core components of the employee, health plan member, patient, and community experience. We strive to enhance the diversity and cultural competency skill-set of our employees, provide culturally and linguistically competent care to improve the health status of our increasingly diverse patient and member population, help ensure the demographic of our workforce reflects the rich diversity represented in the community, and enrich the health status of those who live and work in the communities we serve.

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Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Spirit of Service

In honor and recognition of Dr. King, the values he espoused, and his contributions to the nation and the world in advancing civil and human rights, UPMC partners with local nonprofit organizations to host MLK Community Service Projects. In February 2020, the August Wilson African American Cultural Center hosted UPMC volunteers at an event to support the work of an international hunger relief organization, which distributes food and life-changing aid, and a local group that provides birthday cheer for children experiencing homelessness.

During the event, 200 employee volunteers from more than 100 departments created 800 Happy Hygiene kits for Beverly’s Birthdays, and packed 34,200 meals for Rise Against Hunger.

Volunteering and Support That Makes Our Community Stronger

2019 Pittsburgh Pride: Pittsburgh Pride is the largest diversity community festival in Pennsylvania specifically for the LGBTQ community and its allies. In 2019, the event drew 250,000 attendees — including 600 UPMC employees, their families, and friends — who registered to take part in the 2019 Pittsburgh Pride Equality March. Through this event, communities join together reflecting the intersectionality in our pursuit of equality and equity for all. 

Reading is FUNdamental: UPMC kicked off a partnership with Reading is FUNdamental (RIF) through a reading mentorship program that pairs 39 UPMC employees with kindergarteners from the Manchester Charter School. Once a week, throughout the 2019-2020 school year, students visited their UPMC mentors at U.S. Steel Tower for sessions focused on building meaningful relationships through conversations, good books, and literacy-based activities.

Scouting for Food: For more than 10 years, UPMC has participated in the Scouting for Food and Chow Wagon campaigns. In partnership with local food banks and animal shelters during the month of April, food, pet food, and monetary donations are collected through the combined campaigns and distributed to underserved communities across our footprint. In 2020, UPMC broke our record by collecting 1.77 million units of food for hungry people and pets — coming to the aid of many across the communities we serve during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Junior Health Care Explorers: In November 2019, UPMC launched Junior Health Care Explorers (JHCE), a youth STEM program consisting of workshops for middle school students to begin their career exploration in the health care industry. The program engages middle school youth from underserved communities with workshops including fun, hands-on, interactive sessions developed to give students a foundation of understanding and access to support necessary for future success. JHCE is designed to help students achieve their career aspirations and expose them to six fields of health care: medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, health and rehabilitation, and public health.

Together, We Make an Impact

UPMC's impact wouldn't be possible without outstanding support from strong community partners. Together, we are tackling important health issues like employment, emergency preparedness, food insecurity, homelessness, and substance use to make a difference for our most vulnerable neighbors.