Mercy Health’s Harley: Fairness in Employment ‘Paramount’

Fairness in employment is “paramount” to racial equity, and employers who want to give people from all races a chance at good jobs need to remove barriers that could have an impact before and after hiring, a local Mercy Health leader says in a recent interview with Valley Tough.

“It’s paramount,” said Kathy Harley, president of the St. Elizabeth Youngstown campus of Mercy Health. “We need to be here for the community we serve and the community we serve needs to be here and employed.”

The interview was the last in Valley Tough’s six-part “Words on Race” series with host Chris Gunther.

Check out the video below.

Harley said Mercy Health, one of the Mahoning Valley’s largest employers, is committed to several initiatives that remove racial barriers from hiring and promotion decisions. These include anti-racism training for managers and opportunities for employees to improve their skills (on company time) and secure tuition reimbursement if they choose to go to college.

“We have to know that our managers know our stance on anti-racism and non-biased hiring techniques,” she said. “We’re spending a lot of time educating our managers who hire associates because we want to fulfill this promise to the community.”

This emphasis extends to recruiting for leadership positions and physicians, Harley said.

Mercy Health also considers its work to promote food security and better transportation around the St. E’s Youngstown campus to be important parts of its employment strategy.

The healthcare provider has invested money and leadership time in programs that support local farmer’s markets and is a major investor in the multimillion-dollar campaign to bring autonomous bus transportation to the downtown-YSU-St. E’s region.

“You have to have all those pieces of the puzzle,” Harley said.

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