Intermountain Healthcare has selected Tiffany Capeles, a nationally recognized diversity leader, as the health system’s first chief equity officer. With a broad background in healthcare diversity, Capeles will lead Intermountain’s efforts, which were started several years ago, to expand health equity, diversity, and inclusion for caregivers, patients, and communities it serves throughout its seven-state footprint.
“Intermountain is determined to lead the nation in eliminating health disparities and bettering the health of everyone in our communities. Tiffany’s leadership and her strong record of achieving greater health equity have earned her the respect of our peers in healthcare along with well-deserved national acclaim,” said Marc Harrison, MD, president and chief executive officer of Intermountain Healthcare. “From tackling the social determinants of health to advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives, we’re excited to have her join our team to continue to address these key elements of care.”
At Intermountain, equity is one of the health system’s fundamental values that recognizes that fairness and inclusion are vital in healing and healthcare.
In addition to her focus on community inclusion, Capeles will work closely with Intermountain’s office of equity and inclusion to refine caregiver equity strategy. Her role will have a specific focus on the caregiver environments and creating both equity and belonging in the workplace.
“Tiffany’s informed approach and experience align well with our four pillars as we advance equity for our patients, members, caregivers, and communities,” said Mikelle Moore, Intermountain senior vice president and chief community health officer. “She will provide visionary leadership that will continue our focus on equity as a social determinant of health to help people live the healthiest lives possible.”
Capeles comes to Intermountain from CHRISTUS Health, an international health system based in Texas, where she was the system’s director of health equity, diversity, and inclusion. In that role, she led efforts to improve patients’ health outcomes and directed strategy for diversity and inclusion within the system.
Her work at CHRISTUS led to the organization receiving numerous national awards, designations, and recognition in the areas of health equity, diversity, and inclusion.
In 2021, Capeles earned the career achievement award from the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives, and in 2020, was named as one of the Top 25 emerging leaders by Modern Healthcare and received the 2019 Tomorrow’s Leaders Award by the Catholic Healthcare Association.
“I’m very excited to join Intermountain to help continue the important work that’s already underway to ensure that all of the communities we serve are getting the best care possible and feel welcomed and included in their experiences with Intermountain. We have a wonderful foundation here to build on,” she said.
Before joining CHRISTUS Health, Capeles served in multiple roles at Children’s Health in Texas, and at Adventist HealthCare, in Maryland. She is active in communities she serves, both within healthcare and as a former city commissioner in Texas.
Capeles earned an MBA degree in finance, from Hood College in Maryland, and completed her undergraduate studies in healthcare administration at Kent State University in Ohio.
About Intermountain Healthcare
Based in Utah with locations in seven states and additional operations across the western U.S., Intermountain Healthcare is a nonprofit system of 33 hospitals, 385 clinics, medical groups with some 3,800 employed physicians and advanced practice providers, a health plans division with more than one million members called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is committed to improving community health and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs. For more information, see Intermountain Healthcare.