Daniel Noel wears many hats – he is a nurse, son, brother, uncle, a follower of Christ, owner of an old house, companion of Violet the dog, and a gay man. All of those pieces are part of a larger puzzle that make up Daniel, who is director of clinical talent at Columbus Regional Health. “I try to let people see who I am as a whole and then share the piece of it that I am gay. It’s a tiny piece of a whole, very colorful me,” he said.

That tiny piece, however, was a big reason why he joined our DEI Steering Committee – he felt an obligation to help other people in the LGBTQ+ community. “I know the struggles that I had coming out as a gay man and being gay and resolving to that based on my past,” he said. Daniel did not come out as a gay man until he was 26. Growing up in a religion where being gay wasn’t accepted kept him from revealing his sexuality for many years. “I grew up in a religious home and in a religion where that’s not okay. And it’s a struggle. It’s a struggle to me to this day, and I’m 47,” he said.  

In addition to serving on the Steering Committee, Daniel is also on the DEI Education team, which looks at competencies and learning opportunities and how they can support an inclusive and equitable care environment. “Within education, there are many different things we can talk about related to diversity – even simple things like how you respond to a 5-year-old verses how you respond to a 60-year-old.  As a nurse or healthcare provider, we interact with the community on so many different levels from their disease processes to how they want to receive their care, and diversity impacts all of that. A great example is how we refer to our patients with pronouns. It may seem insignificant to us as a healthcare provider, but if someone’s outward appearance is different than the pronouns they want to be referred to, and we fail to respond to that patient appropriately, we can set up an environment for them where they don’t trust us and then may not share vital information related to their healthcare needs. 

Daniel said progress has been made for the LGBTQ+ community in Columbus and points to the Pride Festival as an example. Just a couple decades ago, there weren’t public events supporting LGBTQ+ rights. He said that the Columbus LGBTQ+ community often met privately to not be ridiculed. Pride Alliance was a big group that met and allowed gay individuals to see others who had similar life experiences. Pride Alliance still exists but became less active as LGBTQ+ individuals felt more comfortable living their lives out in the world. 

Daniel is hopeful that our focus on DEI, as well as the larger efforts of the community to promote equity and inclusivity, will bring further positive change. He said it is important to think about other people’s lived experiences, especially those that are different from your own, to help understand their perspectives and beliefs. 

While Daniel feels that his calling is to be a nurse, and it is what he is passionate about, he also enjoys life outside of work. He loves antiques and old houses. “From a young age, people called me an old soul. I was a little old man in a young person’s body at 10 years old.”