In 2020, Ms. Wimes became Children’s Mercy Kansas City’s inaugural chief equity and inclusion officer. Since then, she has conducted the hospital’s first diversity workforce assessment, developed its first DEI strategic plan, and crafted innovative diversity and health equity initiatives. In addition, she was a key player in securing the hospital’s participation in Project LEAD, a pilot diversity hiring program through the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce that measures the hiring of historically underrepresented populations. Under her leadership, the hospital has set a goal to increase the applicant pool to 30% diverse applicants. She also helped create the hospital’s first formal supplier diversity program, which led to the hospital exceeding its spend goal with diverse suppliers. The hospital also received a two-year operational grant for $4 million from the Bloch Family Foundation to address disparities in health equity, patient experience and care coordination.
