Newark Hospital Raises Flag For LGBTQ+ Pride Month

NEWARK, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, an RWJBarnabas Health facility, raised the flag in celebration and recognition of National LGBTQ+ Pride Awareness Month.

Newark Beth Israel’s employee Business Resource Group, P.R.I.D.E (Providing, Respect, Inclusion, Dignity and Empowerment) hosted the annual event, supported by the hospital’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Senior leaders and employees were joined by Reginald Bledsoe, Director of the Essex County Office of LGBTQ Affairs. A short presentation included a parade of 14 flags NBI has chosen to represent different segments of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Our annual Pride Month flag raising ceremony is another opportunity to celebrate inclusion at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has now received seven consecutive HEI designations for delivering inclusive care to the LGBTQ+ community, including two for our Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. We are proud of the world class care we deliver to all of our patients and the supportive environment we create for both patients and staff,” said Darrell K. Terry, Sr., MHA, MPH, FACHE, FHELA, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey.

The flag raising marks the beginning of a month of events at Newark Beth Israel Medical center to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Awareness that include employee competitions, educational awareness events, support for the LGBTQ+ community, and activities in support of the Newark LGBTQ Community Center scholarship. NBI is also scheduled to participate in the Newark Pride Festival and Parade in July along with RWJBarnabas Health and the Northern Region facilities.

“At Newark Beth Israel, we are committed to advocating and educating around issues that impact the LGBTQ+ community at large. Every year, our employees participate in a number of awareness events at the hospital and in the city of Newark aimed at supporting inclusion for a community that continues to be marginalized,” Atiya-Jaha Rashidi, MHA, RN, Chief Equity Officer, and Vice President of Community Relations.

The following flags will be on display at Newark Beth Israel throughout the month of June, they include: Ally Flag, Asexual Pride Flag, Bisexual Pride Flag, Coexist Flag, Equality Pride Flag, Gender Fluid Pride Flag, Intersex-Inclusive Pride Progress Flag, Intersex Pride Flag, Nonbinary Pride Flag, Pansexual Pride Flag, Philadelphia People of Color Inclusion Flag, Pride Progress Flag, Traditional Pride Flag, and Transgender Pride Flag.

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