BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A new report has unveiled some pretty serious issues at one of the Queen City's most prominent medical centers.
That major report came out of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center alleging racial and gender-based discrimination and bullying.
It states the center historically did not prioritize diversity and did not have a system in place for handling discrimination complaints.
Twelve employees, current and past, filed complaints which prompted the center to retain law firm Cozen O'Connor to review and set forth recommendations on how to move forward.
"It was never kept secret. it never intended to be released. It was always intended for internal use, for us to be better. Doctor Johnson was very deliberate in wanting to use it internally to change policies and procedures," Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney said.
Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney is six weeks into her role as senior vice president and chief diversity officer at Roswell Park.
During a one-on-one interview Friday afternoon, she explained to me this report was commissioned three years ago stating it is important to note leadership asked for this report to be done, and released to the public.
"It wasn't one of those things where it was an outside organization or government agency that came in to audit us. It was requested because we wanted to look at how we do things, and to change the way we engage our employees and do better," Rodriguez-Dabney said.
The Buffalo News pushed Roswell to release the 43-page report, initially filed in April of 2022.
The report was released Thursday.
Fourteen cases alleged discrimination, retaliation, and harassment by Roswell Park, over past decade.
The report also states insensitive claims within the surgical department like African Americans being refereed to as "animals".
The report states "substantial changes need to be made" to policies.
Claims like, discrimination by senior professional staff not being addressed properly.
Additionally, claims that some staff have "corroded" Roswell's historic reputation to attract credentialed African American and other minorities employees.
"We want more agencies and organizations to look at how they do things internally and how they can help remove barriers to underrepresented groups," Rodriguez-Dabney said.
When asked how Roswell Park can do better by its 4,400 employees, here is what Dabney had to say:
"Actively looking at how we can recruit and retain employees and how we can change our culture. There's still a lot more work to do," she explained. "How hard is it for us to look at ourselves and say, 'Hey, I need to change that.' That's difficult, even as individuals, but as an organization to say, 'Hey, we need to be different', I think that says a lot."
