External Partners and Vendors

As one of the largest healthcare providers and largest employers in the state, University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) has the power to influence the economic well-being of communities across Maryland.

And as anchor institutions within our communities, it is our responsibility to see that our influence strengthens and empowers those communities.

That’s why one part of our equity, diversity and inclusion efforts focuses on building and sustaining relationships with those businesses and organizations embedded in our communities that embrace the values we do.

These are the people and leaders who work tirelessly to help improve their communities – a mission and goal we all share.

How We’re Expanding Our Partnerships

At UMMS we have the great privilege of working with many wonderful partners – organizations and people that are creating change.

However, we must also recognize that not all business owners have the same opportunities. This is particularly true for minority-owned businesses. This is why we are substantially increasing our investments with minority-owned businesses.

• We will partner with businesses that reflect the growing diversity of our community, patients and workforce.
• We have specific tools in place to measure our progress in identifying and supporting more minority-owned businesses.

Partner With Us

Mentoring and supporting minority-owned businesses is also a critical step in our plan, to ensure continued growth and partnership for all involved.

To that end, we are working to encourage new minority-owned partners to bid on UMMS projects through our Minority and Women-Owned Business Program. Our goal for this program is to partner with and invest in diverse and inclusive businesses as a way to strengthen and empower our System, our business partners and the communities we serve.

In fiscal year 2021, in keeping with our long-standing commitment to the success of minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs), UMMS partnered with leading experts to develop foundational training designed to increase the capacity of these companies to do business within our system and beyond. The first group of participants in this program begins training in the first quarter of 2022.

We also have hosted a Virtual Supplier Diversity Fair where potential partners heard from our CEOs and supply chain leaders about potential opportunities; visited with IT, finance and marketing leaders; and learned about the process of doing business with UMMS.