About Us

The Waco Family Medicine Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Waco Family Medicine (WFM) is dedicated to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, crucial to living out our organizational mission.We value the diverse experiences in our team, knowing they enhance our care to the community. Committed to equitable opportunities, we strive to create an organization where all staff, patients, and guests belong and flourish.

Our goal is to dismantle societal barriers limiting healthcare access and to improve health outcomes and wellness. We are acutely aware of the societal structures that historically and currently favor certain groups while simultaneously marginalizing others. We believe an interdisciplinary approach is key to our success, integrating various perspectives to create a more equitable and accessible healthcare system for everyone.

In support of our mission, we outline our current efforts:

Policy – Align organizational policies and practices to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion with processes for feedback, education, and improvement.

Recruiting, Retention and Talent Development – Leverage our internal talent as well as recruit according to our mission to create a staff that mirrors the community we serve at every level of the organization.

Evidence-Based Practice – Use high-quality data to inform best practices, policies, and care delivery that aligns and promotes partnership with each patient.

Professional Development – Provide ongoing opportunities for learning about diversity, equity, and inclusion so that all staff have concrete ways to promote and advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Meaningful Celebration – Provide ongoing opportunities to share and celebrate our individual differences to facilitate meaningful dialogue and authentic relationships.

Community Engagement – Partnering with community-based organizations to positively impact non-medical social drivers of health.

Our efforts are guided by the following definitions:

Diversity is the presence of different types of people, categorized by race, ethnicity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status and education. Diversity can be visible or invisible. At WFM, diversity means that we value people from varied backgrounds and aspire to reflect the community’s demographics among staff. We believe that diversity improves the health of patients, staff, and the organization.

Flourishing is living a meaningful and fulfilling life by doing worthwhile tasks that allow us to find deep connection with others. At WFM, we provide appropriate support to do work-related activities as well as honoring time outside of work.

Equity is the absence of barriers that negatively impact any underrepresented, marginalized or diverse groups. At WFM, our work toward equity means acknowledging past and present injustices that harm our community, and, using meaningful data with a disciplined approach, continuously improving structures and processes so that all people can flourish.

Inclusion exists in an environment where individuals are welcomed, supported, and valued as respected members of the organization to reach their full potential. Such an environment actively, meaningfully and intentionally engages staff and patients by recognizing our rich diversity to understand more fully the work needed to address current and past injustices. At WFM, inclusion is the environment we create for each other by treating each other and patients with respect and hospitality.

Belonging is a natural affinity or liking of a place or situation. Any person, staff or patient who feels belonging perceives support and connectedness, and experiences community. Belonging is a personal feeling created by an inclusive environment, so at WFM, we value staff members’ and patients’ unique experiences and skills as we advance a common mission.