Broadlawns Medical Center’s interim Vice President of Human Resources and Chief DEI Officer Maria Morgan has accepted the position permanently, according to a news release.

Morgan, an employment law attorney with experience in civil rights and human resources counseling, has been in the interim role since July, Broadlawns said in the statement. Her permanent status will be effective Jan. 2.

“Broadlawns is fortunate to have secured such a talented leader to oversee our human resources and DEI team,” Broadlawns Interim CEO and CMO Dr. Jason Kruse said in the statement. “I am excited to bring Maria Morgan on full-time at Broadlawns. I value her expertise and holistic approach to the inclusion and well-being of our patients and employees.”

Morgan replaced Renee Hardman, the medical center’s former vice president of human resources and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, who left the position in July.

Broadlawns Board of Trustees is also in the midst of a national search initiated in November for the hospital system’s next CEO after its former chief executive resigned unexpectedly after nearly 23 months in the role.

According to the release, Morgan’s top priorities will be standardizing and automating HR processes to “create positive experiences for employees and their leaders throughout the employee lifecycle.”

The release said Broadlawns also intends for Morgan to continue to increase recruiting and development pipelines for health care careers, “focusing on social determinants of health and cultural competency in patient care to achieve health equity via high-quality health outcomes for the Des Moines community.”

Broadlawns is the nonprofit, safety-net hospital for Polk County and employs 1,200 people, including 100 physicians.

Morgan was previously staff counsel for Health Midwest, according to Broadlawns, responsible for employment law for a 13-hospital system.

“She has expertise guiding and leading organizational leadership teams in creating inclusive workplaces and guiding leadership with regard to employment matters in corporations, nonprofit organizations, government, health care and education,” the release said. “Maria has led organizations in transformational work through change management, policy review and development, process development, strategic planning and programming.”