Abstract

In most large urban areas in Canada, conducting good business in the healthcare industry requires attaining a high degree of cultural competence; that is, the desire and wherewithal to meet parallel needs associated with or impinging upon the health of individuals and communities within a region. Accessing, investing in and utilizing a cross-section of a region's human resources is a major component of a process by which cultural competence can be achieved, providing that diversity in healthcare management is jointly a condition and a result of those endeavours.

Oftentimes, because diversity in management is misguidedly considered non-essential to the inner workings of a healthcare region, attaining cultural competence by systematically diversifying healthcare management can be perceived as an extravagance. Thus, it is not surprising that in a climate of rising expenditures and service demands, when fiscal restraint is the order of the day, the measurable benefits of diversityrelated initiatives tend to be questioned even more.