By Rebecca Gaunt

Le Joyce Naylor has stepped into the role of senior vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer (CDEIO) for Wellstar Health System, the largest healthcare system in Georgia.

Naylor started the position Aug. 2. She will “provide system wide thought leadership, strategic planning, and implementation of DE&I initiatives,” according to the press release from Wellstar.

Also according to the release:

“Naylor has nearly 20 years of diversity and inclusion experience and an exceptional track record of setting strategy, engaging stakeholders and driving results, including leadership of DE&I initiatives in a healthcare setting. Most recently, she served as the executive director diversity & inclusion officer at the Cleveland Clinic. She was responsible for driving the diversity and inclusion strategy and execution for more than 66,000 employees and oversaw the system’s 21 Diversity Councils and 13 Employee Resource Groups. Under Naylor’s leadership, the Cleveland Clinic received National recognition for their employee resource groups, along with being recognized by DiversityInc. as a Top 10 Health System for twelve consecutive years, most notably ranking #1 in 2019.”

Wellstar launched the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Council in December 2020. Naylor will lead the council in addressing health equity, a culture of inclusion, workforce diversity and community engagement.

According to Wellstar, approximately 81% of the company’s employees are women and 51% of the workforce is minorities. When it comes to ascension, 47% of Wellstar’s executives and 77% of frontline managers are women. Minority executives make up 21% of the workforce, with minorities in 38% of the frontline management roles. Also, Wellstar has 7,300 nurses, of which approximately 90.2% of the system’s clinical RNs are women.

The Wellstar system includes: 11 hospitals, more than 300 medical office locations, nine cancer centers, 74 rehabilitation centers, three hospice facilities, 17 urgent cares, 34 imaging centers, five health parks and one retirement village.

“Wellstar is committed to sustaining a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment that honors and values the voice of each patient and team member,” said Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO of Wellstar Health System. “Le Joyce will work with leaders across our organization to advance Wellstar’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and cultural competence programs to positively impact patients, team members and the communities we serve – both today and into the future.”

Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.