UW Medicine Bias Reporting Tool
UW Medicine is an organization that embraces diversity, advances equity, and fosters inclusion and collaboration. We are a community that expects support and respect at all levels. We realize there are times when individuals at all levels in our system engage in biased behaviors which adversely impact the learning, teaching, working or healing experiences of others.
The Bias Reporting Tool is for sharing incidents of bias of any form, including but not limited to experiences of racial bias/racism, sexism, ableism, or other actions, behaviors, or processes that do not reflect the prioritization of inclusion and equity expected in all areas of our community.
We are committed to responding to these events and continuing to improve our climate. Thank you for taking the time to tell us what happened.
We understand sharing concerns can be difficult and we welcome anonymous reports. If you choose to report anonymously, please know our ability for follow-up will be limited. We encourage you to provide your contact information so we can reach out to you, hear more about what happened, hear how it impacted you, and discuss resources.
Click the button below to access the tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I use this tool?
One of the challenges in large organizations is that most instances of harmful behaviors are not reported. By having a centralized way to identify areas and topics that need attention, we can develop more targeted interventions to improve our community.
While you may choose to submit an anonymous report we encourage you to share your contact information. However, we welcome anonymous reports to enhance our collective knowledge and understanding of the current climate.
When should I file a SafetyNet vs a BRT?
Across the University of Washington and UW Medicine, there are several ways to report concerns about bias. SafetyNet is a place to report safety concerns in which bias impacts the healthcare we deliver to our patients, and can include patient identifiable information. Please remember: The BRT system cannot contain patient identifiable information. If additional help is needed to discuss how or if bias was involved, please include the SafetyNet reference number in the BRT report. For concerns involving patient care, the BRT committee may also partner with other groups and offices as appropriate, including Patient-Relations and Risk Management.
What happens after I submit a report?
A member of the BRT team will review the report and contact you to learn more about what happened and discuss resources. The information you shared will be in our database, to provide us with an overall picture of what our students, trainees, staff and faculty are experiencing. The committee will determine what follow up options are available. Examples include asking facilities services to remove graffiti, providing support to an affected community or providing feedback to a department or individual.
We understand sharing concerns can be difficult and we welcome anonymous reports. If you choose to report anonymously, please know our ability for follow-up will be limited.
Who is in the BRT Committee?
The BRT committee is co-chaired by Drs. Paula Houston and Trish Kritek and includes leaders across UW Medicine.
These leaders represent faculty, nursing, human resources, graduate medical education, and undergraduate medical education teams.
BRT Committee
Elaine Acacio
Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, UWMC
Erin Alexander
HR Director, UW School of Medicine
Andrés Barría
Professor of Physiology & Biophysics, Assistant Dean for EDI in Research and Graduate Education, UW School of Medicine
Chantal Cayo
Chief Nursing Officer, UW Primary Care Clinics
Elisa Clegg
BRT Coordinator, Office of Healthcare Equity, UW Medicine
Nancy Colobong Smith
Clinical Nurse Specialist, UWMC
Giana Davidson
Assistant Dean for Professional Development” Office of Faculty Affairs, UW School of Medicine
Cindy Hamra
Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education
Dana Hermann
Associate Administrator, Harborview Medical Center
Paula Houston
Chief Equity Officer, Office of Healthcare Equity, UW Medicine
Trish Kritek
Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs, UW School of Medicine
Jennifer Petritz
Employee Relations Director, UW Medicine
Martine Pierre-Louis
Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Harborview Medical Center
Jessica Russell
Senior Director of Personnel Policy, UW Medicine
Gabe Sarah
Associate Dean for Student Affairs, UW School of Medicine
Charisse Williams
Assistant Director for the Center for Restorative Practices, Office of Healthcare Equity, UW Medicine
If you have non-urgent questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to any member of the team or email biasreportingtool@uw.edu (please note, this email should not be used for urgent situations).
Additional Resources
If you are looking to report a bias incident at UW that happened outside of UW Medicine, please visit the upper campus UW bias reporting tool page.
Below are links to resources we may refer you to or you may wish to visit for additional support:
