Sentara Supply Chain Diversity Initiative Awarded By Advocacy Group

Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Healthcare has been named Regional Corporation of the Year by the Carolinas-Virginia Minority Suppliers Development Council. The CVMSDC promotes and facilitates business relationships between the public/private sector and certified minority-owned businesses in North and South Carolina and Virginia.

 The award recognizes a member company who has evidenced the most commitment to minority business development during the previous year, including the following criteria:

• Commitment to MBE development
• Involvement in CVMSDC
• Specific assistance provided to MBEs
• Encouraging primes to support minority business development
• Increased direct and indirect spend with MBEs
• Demonstrated executive involvement

After three years of behind-the-scenes efforts, Sentara publicly committed to expanded supply chain diversity in 2021 by appointing a Supplier Diversity Executive Council and creating a manager of supply chain diversity position to drive and document progress within Sentara and among its primary suppliers.

The executive council, chaired by the VP of Supply Chain, includes the health system’s director of diversity and inclusion, a vice president of government relations and representatives from the real estate and construction divisions to help grow contracts across the spectrum of supply vendors and service providers.

Sentara is an integrated not-for-profit system of 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina, 300+ sites of care and 29,000 employees. The company spends about $3B per year on supply chain.

“We learned from the pandemic that there are local and regional vendors who can compete on quality, price and reliability,” says Jennifer McPherren, Sentara vice president of supply chain. “We want to grow those relationships across our system.

“There are opportunities to invest some of our buying power in the communities where we operate,” McPherren adds. “We are making it easier for smaller vendors to access and navigate our qualifying and bidding process.”

Toward this goal, Sentara provides quarterly education for smaller suppliers to help them respond to requests for proposals and thrive as long-term partners. Sentara joined several advocacy groups, including the CVMSDC, to focus on businesses owned by women, people of color and veterans.

 “We appreciate this regional recognition after just a year of membership in CVMSDC,” says Melinda Hancock, Sentara SVP and chief administrative officer, who oversees Supply Chain. “It supports our effort to create a welcoming environment for new business partners that grows jobs, diversity and prosperity in the communities we serve.”

About Sentara Healthcare

Sentara Healthcare is an integrated, not-for-profit health care delivery system with 29,000 employees, 12 hospitals in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, and the Sentara Health Plans division, which serves more than 900,000 members. Sentara is recognized nationally for clinical quality and safety and is strategically focused on innovation and creating an extraordinary health care experience for our patients and members. Sentara was named to IBM Watson Health’s “Top 15 Health Systems” in 2021 and 2018, recognized as a “Best Employer for Women” by Forbes in 2020, and ranked as one of Forbes “America’s Best Employers” in 2018.

About CVMSDC

Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council is one of 23 regional affiliate councils of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The Council is a membership organization of major corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, and universities in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. CVMSDC is a private 501(c)(3) non-profit funded by membership dues, certification fees, and proceeds from program activities. Funds are also provided by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. CVMSDC promotes and facilitates business relationships between the public/private sector and certified minority-owned businesses.