RWJBarnabas Health appoints new assistant vice president of corporate diversity and inclusion

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Trina Parks of Warren has been appointed assistant vice president of corporate diversity and inclusion for RWJBarnabas Health. Parks will be responsible for corporate diversity and inclusion for the system, including leadership accountability and communication; employee development and training; supplier inclusion; diverse community engagement; patient inclusion; and health equity.

“Ms. Parks comes to us with over 20 years of experience breaking down barriers in health care disparities in behavioral health and population health management arenas,” Milton Anderson, chief administrative officer for RWJBarnabas Health, said in a release. “As we navigate the new world of population health and corporate diversity and inclusion, Ms. Parks will contribute to RWJBarnabas Health in its mission to effect action and expansion of its goals in this area.”

For the past four years, Parks has served as vice president of behavioral health and forensics services at East Orange General Hospital. During her tenure there, Parks led the charge to build a state-of-the-art psychiatric inpatient unit, which opened October 2014.

Prior to that, Parks was the associate executive director for the Mental Health Association of Essex County. She successfully secured a re-integration and jail diversion grant to establish a formal partnership between Essex County Correctional Facility and the community health care providers to integrate and divert individuals from incarceration.

Parks received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Montclair State University and a master’s degree in health care administration from Seton Hall University. She is a fellow and graduate of Leadership New Jersey and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Parks sits on the board of trustees for the Richard J. Codey Fund for Mental Health and the Greater Newark Healthcare Coalition and serves on several committees, commissions and board in her field. Parks is passionate about providing equitable, safe, effective and patient centered health care while maintaining the ultimate accountability of removing health disparities in the local communities.

  Mental Health Association of Essex County, RWJBarnabas Health