About the Author
Louis R. Preston, Jr., MDiv, CDM, serves as Diversity Officer and Director of Interpreter Services at AdventHealth. Preston is a third-generation pastor and administrator for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Diversity and Inclusion have been part of his life since desegregating both his high school and college. Years later, because of these youthful, diverse successes, the Adventist World Headquarters sent Preston and his young family to quell racial tension within the Adventist Church in England and Scotland. After ten years in Britain, they were called to develop financial stability with the Adventist organization for eleven countries in Eastern Africa. Back in the US, Preston served as a church pastor and administrator, once again integrating institutions. In 2003, he accepted the call as Diversity Officer for AdventHealth.
More About Louis R. Preston
At AdventHealth, Preston has played a major role in redefining the diversity program. Some of his accomplishments include restructuring the Diversity Committee, receiving permission from the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, an American Hospital Association (AHA) affiliate, to customize their Accountability Diversity Tool for the Florida Hospital culture. This customization initiated the development of the AdventHealth Diversity Scorecard process; he also initiated the first-ever annual Florida Hospital Diversity Awareness Sabbath which has evolved into an annual event for the last decade. Under his leadership, AdventHealth was the recipient of the 2007 Diversity Best Practice Beacon Award’s Corporate Advocate for Diversity, the most coveted of all the categories.
Preston has developed over 36 diversity awareness/management courses for AdventHealth. Ten of these courses deal with various aspects of health care disparities. Since his implementation of new diversity strategies and training, AdventHealth’s Diversity Gallup CO2 score has risen from 3.78 in 2003 to 4.61 in 2016. His heartfelt, passionate desire is to see Florida Hospital become a global pacesetter in faith-based health care, so that all employees at all levels may succeed in their personal achievements. He holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Andrews University Theological Seminary, and a Certificate in Diversity Healthcare Management from the University of Massachusetts. Preston serves on the Chapter 57 Board for the City of Orlando, which is an appellate Board for Civil Rights violations, and is an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
His wife, Janice M. Preston, PhD, RM, RN, is the immediate past Chair of the Department of Nursing at Adventist University of Health Sciences. They are the proud parents of four young adults, one daughter-in-law, and three lovely granddaughters.
Publications
Personalizing Patient Care: A Reference Guide for Healthcare Professionals, 4th Edition