231+ Black healthcare leaders to know | 2024 (2024)

Diversity in healthcare leadership results in a more well-rounded experience for patients and providers.

Becker's is thrilled to honor these Black healthcare leaders. The leaders featured on this list are shaping the patient experience, educating and training the next generation of healthcare providers, and furthering equity and inclusion.

Note: Becker's Healthcare developed this list based on nominations and editorial research. Leaders do not pay and cannot pay for inclusion on this list. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it an endorsem*nt of the leaders or organizations mentioned. We extend a special thank you to Rhoda Weiss for her contributions to this list. Leaders are presented in alphabetical order.

Greg Adams. Chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.). Mr. Adams leads a network of 39 hospitals, 730 medical offices and more than 216,000 employees. His work is focused on growing the organization's membership, improving affordability and expanding healthcare access. He holds leadership positions at several organizations, including being a member of the board of directors for America's Health Insurance Plans.

Abiola Anyebe. Market CEO for Kindred Hospitals of North Texas at ScionHealth (Louisville, Ky.). Ms. Anyebe was promoted in July 2023 to the position of market CEO for ScionHealth’s Kindred Hospitals of North Texas, where she oversees all strategy and business, financial and clinical operations for the three Kindred long-term acute care hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Her responsibilities include managing the hospitals’ budgets, setting strategic objectives and targets for growth and volumes, executing clinical initiatives, recruiting and retaining staff, recruiting physicians and managing physician partnerships, ensuring compliance with laws, regulations and accreditation requirements, and establishing performance improvement programs and standards.

Francine Baker-Witt, DNP, RN. President and CEO of Effingham Health System (Springfield, Ga.). Dr. Baker-Witt joined Effingham Health System in 2015 and became CEO in 2017. She is responsible for operations of a 25-bed critical access hospital, the 105-bed Effingham Care & Rehabilitation Center, five family medicine locations, two imaging centers and the hospital's foundation. Dr. Baker-Witt was executive director of women and infant services at Grady Health System in Atlanta before joining Effingham Health System. She is a member of the American Hospital Association Rural Health Committee.

Christopher Blackerby. CEO and Co-Founder of Incisive Consultants (Overland Park, Kan.). Mr. Blackerby is CEO and co-founder of Incisive Consultants, an EHR consulting firm leading healthcare organizations through digital transformation. He outlines the company's purpose, direction and strategic plan by identifying immediate and extended targets, growth avenues, market opportunities, contacts and clients. In addition, he steers operational staff and consultants, nurtures a culture of diversity and cooperation, and enhances morale and productivity to drive peak performance. As CEO, he acts as the company's ambassador to clients, partners and stakeholders. His dedication to service excellence has led to a client satisfaction rate of 100% and client engagement rate of 80%. In 2024, Incisive and Mr. Blackerby were presented with the Nova Award for economic development by the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce.

Damond Boatwright. President and CEO of Hospital Sisters Health System (Springfield, Ill.). Mr. Boatwright is the top executive at Hospital Sisters Health System, leading more than 12,000 colleagues in serving a patient population of approximately 2 million people. Mr. Boatwright became the $2.9 billion system’s first Black CEO in June 2021 and is responsible for operational excellence, financial performance and delivery of high-quality patient care in all settings. He is responsible for achieving results outlined in the HSHS strategic plan, including specific objectives related to three key pillars: mission, strength and growth. Since joining the system, he has been committed to creating a culture of transparency and trust. He is also committed to enhancing diversity, equity and inclusivity at HSHS. Since joining, he established, and now chairs, a DEI steering committee. The DEI steering committee is responsible for integrating DEI into the culture of HSHS and promoting accountability through systemwide policies and process development.

Jacqueline Bowens. President and CEO of District of Columbia Hospital Association. Ms. Bowens serves as the president and CEO of DC Hospital Association. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing the budget, staff and programs. She also takes ownership of the organization’s legislative advocacy. Her team is tasked with handling fiscal business, operations, patient quality and safety, communications, community engagement, grants and legislative relations.

Gina Calder. President of Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital and Progress West Hospital (St. Charles County, Mo.). In her role, Ms. Calder has led the revitalization of clinical service lines and has built a diverse team of leaders. Under Ms. Calder’s guidance, both hospitals have grown net patient revenue 25% from 2020 performance and have been recognized multiple times for patient quality, safety, and experience. She has been named a "Champion for Diversity and Inclusion" by the St. Louis Business Journal and received the 2022 PRC Healthcare Leadership Impact award. She also serves on the board of directors for both St. Charles Community College Foundation and Missouri Hospital Association Management Services Corporation.

Al Campbell, RN. President of Beth Israel Lahey Health- Winchester Hospital (Cambridge, Mass.). Mr. Campbell is responsible for the overall quality of care, strategic growth and financial sustainability of the 229-bed Winchester Hospital and its affiliates. He leads a workforce of more than 2,000 associates committed to providing exceptional care. Mr. Campbell, has extensive expertise successfully leading in academic medical centers, community hospitals, and for-profit and public hospital systems. With more than 20 years of industry expertise he has successfully led acute care quality transformation, and executed clinical integration and strategic priorities.

Nkem Chukwumerije, MD. President and Executive Medical Director for The Southeast Permanente Medical Group (Atlanta).Dr.Chukwumerije leads one of Georgia’s largest multispecialty medical groups, with over 800 clinicians caring for more than 315,000 Kaiser Permanente members. Dr. Chukwumerije also serves as national physician lead for equity, including and diversity for The Permanente Medical Groups, and has been honored for championing programs to disrupt bias and address microaggressions.

Kevin Churchwell, MD. President and CEO of Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Churchwell oversees the strategic vision of Boston Children's Hospital to advance child health with clinical care, research and innovation, medical education and community engagement. He joined the hospital in 2013 as executive vice president of health affairs and COO, and has since earned several promotions. He established three of the 11 offices of health equity and inclusion at hospitals across the U.S. and Canada, including the Boston Children's office, and he is a board member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Kimberley Darey, MD. President of Endeavor Health Elmhurst Hospital (Evanston, Ill.). Dr. Darey leads with a profound commitment to enhancing patient care, fostering meaningful employee engagement, and ensuring financial sustainability. Her leadership is characterized by a patient-centered approach, advocating for excellence in healthcare delivery and meaningful community engagement. Dr. Darey drives significant growth in service lines, strengthens relationships with physicians and clinical staff, and promotes a culture of trust and collaboration. Her role is pivotal within the newly-formed larger system, which reaches more than one million patients, and she has led Endeavor Health Elmhurst Hospital to earn recognition as a Planetree-certified institution. Her leadership has not only advanced clinical excellence but also fostered a supportive, empathetic community within and beyond the hospital walls.

Michellene Davis. President and CEO of National Medical Fellowships. An experienced health system administrator, Ms. Davis began her role in May 2021, pulling down a $12 million investment from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, initiating the organization’s global expansion, and more than doubling scholarship dollars for medical students of color. She was the first woman and person of color to serve as executive vice president at RWJBarnabas Health in New Jersey, where she founded the system's ongoing Social Impact and Community Investment practice to address social/political determinants in the communities served by the system.

William Davis. Regional President of Deaconess Illinois — Heartland Regional Medical Center (Marion, Ill.). Mr. Davis brings a wealth of experience to his role. Continuing to serve as the CAO of Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Ill. and the CAO of Crossroads Community Hospital, he brings to his expanded role a deep understanding of healthcare. As the regional president, Mr. Davis oversees operations and organizational planning within the Illinois market. In addition to his role, he works with civic organizations to help the local community. He was named the "Best Local President/CEO” in The Southern Illinoisan Readers’ Choice Awards edition in 2023 and recently received the president's award acknowledging his outstanding efforts in services on the Rend Lake College Foundation Board.

Delvecchio Finley. President of Atrium Health Navicent (Macon, Ga.). Mr. Finley is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of Atrium Health Navicent. He is currently guiding the system through its implementation of new technology platforms and its integration into the new Advocate Health enterprise. Using his more than 20 years of healthcare leadership experience, he was a key developer of the system's Impact 2025 Strategic Plan priorities, one cornerstone of which is doubling minority supplier spending. He also champions programs that combat health inequity, such as a patient education program focused on reducing readmissions for ailments that disproportionately impact Black individuals.

Michelle Gaskill-Hames, BSN. Regional President of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals of Southern California and Hawaii (Oakland, Calif.). Ms. Gaskill-Hames is president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals of Southern California and Hawaii. She is tasked with the oversight of the Southern California health plan and hospital operations, which partners with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group to provide care for 4.9 million members across 16 hospitals and 197 medical offices. She also leads the Hawaii health plan and hospital operations, working with the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group to enhance health for over 250,000 members across a medical center, 23 medical offices and clinical locations. She is passionate about value-based care, health access and health equity, and oversees funding and grants for programs equating to more than $1 billion in support of Kaiser Permanente's mission to help communities thrive. Ms. Gaskill-Hames joined the system in 2016 and held roles of progressive responsibility before permanently assuming her current role in September 2023.

Tiara Green. President of Accessia Health (Richmond, Va.). Ms. Green has been a transformative force in the healthcare industry over the past 20 years, particularly for those living with rare or chronic health conditions. Ms. Green is responsible for overseeing organizational changes and adapting to the ever-changing guidelines of the healthcare industry, including developing and maintaining relationships with state entities to administer programs serving targeted populations. She has strategically positioned the organization to further reach underserved patients by implementing health equity and health literacy initiatives. She is also a co-founder of the Liberated Arts Foundation, a nonprofit initiative that uses art to give back to the local community.

George Greene. President and CEO of the Hospital Association of Southern California (Los Angeles). Mr. Greene leads an association that serves over 175 hospitals from over 30 health systems, in addition to numerous related associations. His overarching goal is to improve the operating environment for hospitals and the health status of the communities they serve. During the pandemic, he developed a forum through which hospital executives could dialogue with emergency services, other leaders and departments of public health. Under Greene's leadership, a charitable affiliate of the hospital called the National Health Foundation has provided 9.8 million in savings to hospitals for recuperative care and medical respite sites, which helps with post-hospital care and housing for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Audrey Gregory, PhD. Executive Vice President and CEO of East Florida Division at AdventHealth (Altamonte Springs, Fla.). With a career spanning over 30 years, Dr. Gregory joined AdventHealth in 2021. Two years later, when the AdventHealth East Florida Division was established in 2023, she was promoted to its CEO and executive vice president, making her the first Black woman to serve as a member of AdventHealth’s executive cabinet. She previously served as CEO for Detroit Medical Center, part of Dallas-based Tenet Health, overseeing operations of eight hospitals. Dr. Gregory's notable accomplishments include leading the health system's first phase of a $660 million transition to Epic EHR and the expansion of multiple clinical programs.

Alicia Gresham. CEO of Pennsylvania Hospital (Philadelphia). Bringing nearly three decades of experience, Ms. Gresham became CEO of the 525-bed Pennsylvania Hospital in October 2023. Her leadership of the nation's first hospital is marked by a commitment to community needs and workforce development. Ms. Gresham is focused on enhancing the patient and visitor experience for ambulatory and inpatient care, advancing new strategic growth, improving employee engagement and developing leadership. Having previously served as Mount Sinai Health System's senior vice president and COO of network operations, she has a proven track record of success in enhancing practice revenues and fostering strategic partnerships within large academic health systems. At Mount Sinai, she led expansion of its ambulatory practices across New York, New Jersey and Florida. Returning to Penn Medicine, Ms. Gresham builds on her past contributions to the health system, having led special projects for the department of medicine and served in key roles at Scheie Eye Institute and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Antoinette Hardy-Waller, BSN, RN. CEO of The Leverage Network (Chicago). Before building The Leverage Network, Ms. Waller founded Strategic Healthcare Transformations and was founder of two skilled home health companies. Ms. Waller is also a member of the board of stewardship trustees for CommonSpirit Health, where she serves as chair of the board quality and safety committee. Ms. Waller serves on boards for organizations including the American Hospital Association, National Association for Health Services Executives and Alegent Creighton Health.

Corwin Harper. CEO at Ochsner LSU Health (Shreveport, La.). Mr. Harper serves as CEO for Ochsner LSU Health, the non-profit partnership between Ochsner Health and LSU Health Shreveport that functions as the healthcare delivery system for the LSUHS School of Medicine. He has strengthened collaboration with partners on Louisiana's Northshore and was instrumental in deepening the partnership with Slidell (La.) Memorial Hospital. During the first five years of the partnership, Ochsner LSU Health grew from two hospitals and seven outpatient locations to a system with three hospitals, a behavioral health facility, and more than 20 outpatient locations. Now serving significantly more patients, the system has more than 4,200 employees and 950 physicians, including LSUHS faculty and residents.

James Hildreth Sr., PhD, MD. President and CEO of Meharry Medical College (Nashville, Tenn.). Dr. Hildreth is a world-renowned infectious disease and HIV expert currently serving as Meharry Medical College's 12th president and CEO. Among his many contributions in this role, one of his most notable was spearheading a campaign with the White House and Congress to request funding for the Consortium of Black Medical Colleges. He secured $68 million in philanthropic gifts for the college between 2020 and 2021.

Isaias Irgau, MD. Co-Founder of the American Surgery Center and President and Co-Founder of the Christiana Institute of Advanced Surgery (Bear, Del.). Dr. Irgau is an innovative leader and staunch patient advocate. He has pioneered the performance of various bariatric procedures across Delaware and surrounding states. He was even the first to perform the LAP-BAND procedure and the first to firmly establish the laparoscopic approach to Roux-n-Y gastric bypass in the state. Under his leadership, the American Surgery Center became a designated bariatric center of excellence and is the only surgery center on the East Coast with a Blue Distinction. Dr. Irgau also serves as the president of the Delaware State Chapter at American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

W. Anthony Jackson. CEO of Prisma Health Baptist and Baptist Parkridge Hospitals (Columbia, S.C.). Mr. Jackson was named CEO of Prisma Health's Baptist and Baptist Parkridge Hospitals in October 2022. He brings 30 years of healthcare leadership experience to the position. Prior to taking on this role, Mr. Jackson served as senior vice president and COO of Charleston, S.C.-based Roper St. Francis Healthcare.

Anita Jenkins. CEO of Howard University Hospital (Washington, D.C.). Ms. Jenkins assumed the role of CEO at Howard University Hospital in February 2020. She brings over 20 years of healthcare experience to the position. She also serves as a member of the American Hospital Association’s Regional Policy Board 3 and volunteers for the American Heart Association and the March of Dimes.

Jarrod Johnson. President of UPMC Carlisle (Pittsburgh). Mr. Johnson is responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of UPMC Carlisle. He leads the 169-bed hospital, 29 ambulatory and specialty sites, an ambulatory surgery center and an outpatient cancer center. He collaborates and coordinates with service leaders to ensure a high-quality continuum of care services are delivered to the system's communities. Among his many accomplishments are the development and execution of physician acquisitions, the opening of a neonatal intensive care unit to augment the growth of the women's service line, the acquisition of a new MRI, the reduction of length of stay by 1.2 days, and the improvement of employee engagement and satisfaction by 8%. Under his leadership, the hospital was named a LeapFrog Top General Hospital for 2023.

V. Antoine Keller, MD. Co-Founder of HeartSense (Lafayette, La.). Dr. Keller is a cardiovascular, endovascular and thoracic surgeon at Ochsner Lafayette (La.) General Hospital and the co-founder of nonprofit HeartSense. Dr. Keller and the team at HeartSense work on developing models to reduce the distrust in the medical establishment that people of color harbor and decrease cardiac health disparities through education and pop-up screenings.

Paul King. President and CEO of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and Stanford Medicine Children's Health (Palo Alto, Calif.). Mr. King is in charge of leading the Bay Area's largest healthcare system. Under his guidance, Stanford Medicine Children's Health is investing in a digital health program that will give patients more access to care using the hospital's telehealth and virtual technology. Under his leadership, Stanford Medicine Children's Health was named one of the Top 10 Children's Hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, a distinction that it has maintained for three consecutive years. This included being named the top-ranked children's hospital in California, and holding top 10 positions nationwide for four specialties, including nephrology and pulmonology.

Ruby Kirby, RN. CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare Bolivar (Tenn.) General Hospital and Camden (Tenn.) Hospital. Ms. Kirby has been the CEO of 21-bed West Tennessee Healthcare Bolivar General Hospital since 2003 and took on the CEO role at eight-bed Camden Hospital in July 2021. She joined West Tennessee Healthcare in 1979 and spent 20 years at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital in Memphis serving in various roles, including director of general surgery, before taking on her current role. Ms. Kirby is a member of the American Hospital Association Rural Health Services Committee and served on the board of the Tennessee Technology Center and Hardeman County Health Committee.

Wright Lassiter III. CEO of CommonSpirit Health (Chicago).As president and CEO of CommonSpirit, Mr. Lassiter is charged with leading 140 hospitals, over 1,500 care sites and 150,000 employees. He currently serves as board chair of the American Hospital Association. He brought a breadth of experience to CommonSpirit when he became president and CEO in 2022. Before joining CommonSpirit, he acted as CEO of Detroit-based Henry Ford Health and prior to that, he was the CEO of Oakland, Calif.-based Alameda Health System.

Georges Leconte. CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem (New York City). Mr. Leconte has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare leadership. He was senior associate executive director for the ancillary services division of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst and regional director of the system's mhurst and Queens Hospitals' respiratory care services before taking the helm at the Harlem hospital in January 2022. He led the development of an elective cardiac angioplasty program at the Elmhurst hospital and secured funding for a CT/biplane for neurointervention there. Mr. Leconte is past president of the New York regional chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives.

Alan Lee. President of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick, N.J.). Mr. Lee's role as president of the 640-bed Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital allows him to assemble strong leadership teams across all clinical and operational departments, resulting in a culture of excellence in clinical delivery, research, education and patient outcomes. He co-chaired the committee that created the system's overall cultural mission, vision and values, and helmed a historic labor action taken by 1,700 nurses at RWJUH in 2023. He is currently co-leading the construction and operational plan to open the new Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which will be the state’s only free-standing cancer hospital. Mr. Lee also demonstrates his commitment to forming a positive workplace culture by serving on the system's human resources committee. Prior to joining RWJUH, Mr. Lee served in multiple leadership roles at New York City-based New York-Presbyterian.

Floyd Long. CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Carter (New York City). Mr. Long leads a team of senior administrators in the operation of NYC Health + Hospitals/Carter. Under his leadership, he has achieved financial viability for the facility, improved quality outcomes and transitioned the hospital to Epic's EHR system, which has resulted in improved communication with healthcare providers in the New York City area.

Kiki Louis, MD. President of Oscar Medical Group at Oscar Health (New York City). Dr. Louis serves as president of Oscar Medical Group, where she oversees clinical operations for Oscar Health. She is board-certified in emergency medicine and oversees teams from across operations, tech and clinical to provide a new kind of virtual healthcare. Oscar’s virtual care integrates insurance, network and clinical insights to connect the dots between payer, provider and patient. Since joining Oscar, Dr. Louis and her team have completed more than 6,300 primary care consultations and improved the company’s medical loss ratio and administrative efficiencies to deliver a cost-effective and seamless experience for its more than 1 million members across 18 states. She also serves as the executive sponsor of Oscar's employee resource group, Melanin, which works to foster a community that specifically advances the causes of people who identify as Black. Melanin, along with the internal Oscar DEI team, joined forces to cultivate an intentional and inclusive recruitment process that includes outreach to historically Black colleges and universities.

Abner Mason. Founder and CEO of SameSky Health (North Hollywood, Calif.). For decades, Mr. Mason has worked tirelessly to reduce barriers to care faced by underserved populations both nationally and internationally, at the federal and local levels. In 2017, he founded SameSky Health with the mission to provide tools, resources and care for Americans who don't typically have access to resources. The underlying goal of the company is to challenge the healthcare industry's one-size-fits-all approach. He is also a founder and chair of nonprofit HealthTech 4 Medicaid. Previously, Mr. Mason has served as chair of former President Bush's advisory council on HIV/AIDS, as chief policy advisor to the governor of Massachusetts and as part of the Biden-Harris campaign policy committee. In 2022, he was a recipient of the Joseph R. Biden Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.

Alan McGee, MD. President of Parkview Health Orthopedics (Fort Wayne, Ind.). Dr. Alan McGee retired from clinical practice in December 2023 after 33 years in orthopedics, and now serves as Parkview Health’s top physician leader for the entire orthopedic service line. Dr. McGee's role is focused on developing growth strategies for orthopedics across Parkview's entire service area while working on programs to improve and sustain quality and standardize orthopedic practices networkwide. Dr. McGee was selected as one of 11 Parkview leaders to serve on a new diversity, equity and inclusion advisory council, and in 2023, he was recognized locally with the Black Excellence Blueprint award, a program designed to honor Fort Wayne community African Americans for lifetime excellence. In 2019, he was named the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne's Man of the Year for his lifetime of commitment to his community.

Ikenna Mmeje. President and CEO at USC Arcadia Hospital at Keck Medicine of USC (Los Angeles). Mr. Mmeje furthers Keck Medicine’s mission to expand access to specialized health care and research to the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, offering the community access to world-class specialists, innovative treatments and the latest clinical research. He oversees all management and operations for the hospital, including corporate compliance, strategic plan implementation, board development and fundraising. He is also leading the integration efforts as USC Arcadia Hospital joins Keck.

Dennis Pullin. President and CEO of Virtua Health (Marlton, N.J.). Mr. Pullin, a thought leader and health equity advocate, serves as president and CEO of Virtua Health. During his nearly seven-year tenure thus far, the academic health system has expanded its continuum of preventive, primary, ambulatory, acute and tertiary care across more than 400 locations. Under his leadership, Virtua also brings health services directly into communities through hospital-at-home, physical therapy and rehabilitation, pioneering mobile-health programs and a paramedic program. Mr. Pullin's impactful initiatives include Virtua’s 2019 acquisition of Lourdes Health System, 2021 partnership with Rowan University and the "Eat Well" food access initiative. Other recent accomplishments include launching southern New Jersey’s first proton therapy center in partnership with Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine, partnering with an affordable-housing developer to create an innovative 55-plus community with on-site medical offices, securing a $2 million federal grant to expand and enhance the Virtua Center for Organ Transplantation, launching an innovative mobile health and cancer screening program, driving the five-year partnership between Virtua and Medtronic that began in 2021, and more. Mr. Pullin also authors opinion pieces about important healthcare topics, including health equity, gun violence, organ donation and vaccinations.

Mary Alice Ragsdale, MSN, RN. Interim President and CEO at Dignity Health St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center (Phoenix). Ms. Ragsdale serves as interim president and CEO for the Dignity Health Arizona Central and West Valley market. She brings 20 years of operations experience to her role. Prior, she was CommonSpirit Health's system vice president of diversity, equity and community impact.

Christopher Roker. CEO of NYC Hospital + Health System/Lincoln and Chief Growth Officer for NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City). Mr. Roker handles operations, revenue, patient services and staff productivity at the hospital. The hospital includes 362 beds and 300-plus physicians. He is also chief growth officer for the NYC Health + Hospitals system.

Sandra Severe. Senior Vice President and CEO at Jackson North Medical Center (Miami). Ms. Severe is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at Jackson North, which serves the residents of north Miami-Dade and south Broward counties. She joined in 2014 and grew in leadership positions during her tenure, most recently serving as COO, overseeing a wide range of ancillary and support services. She provided administrative oversight of the hospital’s $100 million construction project to build the three-story UHealth Jackson Critical Care Pavilion, a facility that adds 79 ICU beds to the organization’s critical care capacity. She was also the executive lead on Jackson’s robust Covid-19 lab operations, which provided nearly 200,000 Covid tests to patients, physicians and employees during the pandemic. This program was a model for other healthcare entities in developing testing algorithms used to ensure patient safety and throughput.

Airica Steed, RN, EdD. President and Chief Executive Officer of The MetroHealth System (Cleveland). Dr. Steed began leading Cleveland’s $1.6 billion safety net in December 2022, overseeing all operations for a public health system that encompasses four hospitals, four emergency departments, a level 1 trauma center, an academic medical center, more than 20 health centers and 40 additional sites. She is the first Black, female nurse to oversee the health system in its 186-year history, fighting passionately to reverse racial disparities and make sure every person has an equal chance at a long, healthy life. The proud fourth-generation nurse previously served as executive vice president and system chief operating officer of Sinai Chicago Health System and president of Mount Sinai and Sinai Children’s Hospital, where she is credited with spearheading that system's $75 million operational, financial and clinical transformation. At MetroHealth, she manages a staff of 8,200 caregivers including more than 650 physicians and 1,600 nurses.

Michael Stewart. CEO of Saline Memorial Hospital (Benton, Ark.). Mr. Stewart became CEO of the 177-bed Saline Memorial Hospital in November 2018 after spending more than four years as CEO of Navarro Regional Hospital in Corsicana, Texas. He also has executive leadership experience at health systems in Arkansas, California and Florida. Early in his career, Mr. Stewart spent four years in the United States Air Force and rose to the rank of captain.

Darrell K. Terry, Sr. President and CEO of Newark (N.J.) Beth Israel Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of New Jersey (Newark). Mr. Terry is president and CEO of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where he handles strategic operations for the 665-bed regional care teaching hospital. He also leads Children’s Hospital of New Jersey, which offers more than 30 specialized pediatric services. Mr. Terry's leadership has resulted in significant improvements in patient safety and quality for NBIMC, which The Leapfrog Group recognized by awarding it several consecutive "A" safety grades. A diversity and equity champion, he has transformed the NBIMC senior leadership team to better represent the diversity of the community, with people of color and women making up over 40% of current members. He led the 2019 launch of the $150 million Newark Strong expansion project, which has aided economic and community development in the area. He has also led pioneering initiatives to improve overall community health and wellbeing, including the “Beth Challenge”, KidsFit, The Beth Greenhouse and the Reverend Dr. Ronald B. Christian Community Health and Wellness Center. Mr. Terry brings 37 years of healthcare administration experience to the role and has been employed by RWJBarnabas Health for 27 years.

Pamela Sutton-Wallace. President of Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health. Ms. Sutton-Wallace is president of Yale New Haven Health, where she leads health system operations, drives enterprise strategy and strengthens service lines across the hospitals. Her work has been key to enhancing access to specialty medical care in regional communities. She first joined the system as COO in July 2022, tasked with creating a new normal after the Covid-19 pandemic. In that role, she was able to optimize operations, break down silos, reinvigorate senior leadership group meetings, and help develop the system's first joint strategic plan with the Yale School of Medicine. Ms. Sutton-Wallace's greatest achievement at the system has been leading the "Strengthening our CORE" effort, which entails guiding a multidisciplinary team and over 40 projects that aim to optimize resources, accelerate growth and access, and enhance care quality. In addition to her executive role, she is a mentor and advocate for women in the workforce, a local and national speaker, and a frequent professional reference. She also serves on the board of the Carol Emmott Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing women leaders in healthcare institutions.

Linda Tolbert, MD, EdD. CEO and Executive Medical Director of Washington Permanente Medical Group (Seattle). Dr. Tolbert oversees one of Washington state's largest multispecialty medical groups, which provides care to over 600,000 members with a team of 1,300 clinicians. In her role, Dr. Tolbert spearheads operational enhancements and cultural transformation aimed at optimizing patient care. She collaborates closely with clinicians to develop initiatives aligned with patient-centric principles and influences policies, procedures and infrastructure to prioritize patient wellbeing. Under Dr. Tolbert's leadership, Washington Permanente Medical Group, which is part of Kaiser Permanente Washington, has earned the top ranking for overall quality of care and is among the top-ranked for lower cost, according to the Washington Health Alliance 2024 Community Checkup. She also ​​serves as an assistant professor at Kaiser's Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine and as the inaugural elected chair of the school's faculty advisory council.

Imamu Tomilson, MD. CEO at Vituity (Emeryville, Calif.). Mr. Tomilson brings years of clinical, practice management and executive experience to his leadership of Vituity's more than 400 practice sites nationwide. He has worked to establish a team focused on care transformation for the organization and led diversity and inclusion initiatives. He is credited with being a strong proponent of healthcare equity, helping to bring awareness to healthcare disparities in underrepresented populations and establishing the board of Vituity Cares, a charitable foundation dedicated to improving the health of underserved communities and addressing inequality.

Ralph Turner. Senior Vice President and Hospital President of Wellstar MCG Health (Augusta, Ga.). Mr. Turner was appointed as Wellstar MCG Health president in April 2024. He assumed the role after serving on an interim basis. Wellstar MCG Health includes a 478-bed adult hospital, 154-bed Children's Hospital of Georgia, the Georgia Cancer Center, and over 80 outpatient clinics. Prior, he served as senior vice president and president for Hiram, Ga.-based Wellstar Paulding Medical Center since 2022.

Michael Ugwueke, DHA. President and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (Memphis, Tenn.). Leading more than 12,000 associates and 2,500 medical staff across a continuum of six hospitals and more than 65 physician practices and affiliated services, Dr. Ugwueke leads the strategic direction of the $2 billion Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. He leverages his business acumen to design innovative initiatives that deliver on revenue, growth and quality targets. In his six years as president and CEO, Dr. Ugwueke has instilled a culture of excellence, enabling the health system to achieve top decile performance and the highest quality and safety scores of any health system in the region.

Selwyn Vickers, MD. President and CEO of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York City). Dr. Vickers is an internationally recognized pancreatic cancer surgeon, pancreatic cancer researcher and pioneer in health disparities research. He is committed to addressing health inequalities that prevent all people from experiencing the greatest benefits from the healthcare system. Dr. Vickers joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in September 2022 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he served as CEO of both the health system and the UAB/Ascension St. Vincent’s Alliance.

Tarra Washington. Market CEO of Cornerstone Specialty Hospitals of Oklahoma at ScionHealth (Louisville, Ky.). Ms. Washington has served as Scion's market CEO since the middle of 2023, overseeing all quality, strategic and financial operations for the system's three acute hospitals in the state. She sets quality and growth targets for the hospitals, oversees recruitment and retention of all staff, and manages physician partnerships for the three hospitals. Just three months after joining Scion, she was responsible for hiring a pulmonology director, a neurologist, and infectious disease and nephrology medical directors. Ms. Washington serves as project manager for ScionHealth’s employee resource group for Black employees and is a mentor in ScionHealth’s mentorship program.

Jonathan Watkins. President of City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta (Newnan, Ga.). In his role as the president of City Hope Cancer Center Atlanta, Mr. Watkins oversees the hospital's business and brand awareness strategy, collaborates with leadership to enable growth and market success, and helps ensure the safety and satisfaction of all patients. He is working to establish the center as a business partner with the local Coweta County and Georgia communities, while also partnering with national City of Hope leadership to gain access to leading-edge treatments, breakthrough technology and therapies, innovative national cancer expertise and a wide breadth of clinical trials. He first joined City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta in 2019, known at the time as Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and led the center through both the Covid-19 pandemic and its acquisition by City of Hope. Mr. Watkins is also part of the Association of Healthcare Executives’ Georgia chapter, and has served as a speaker for several healthcare summits and groups dedicated to Black excellence in healthcare.

Lynnette Watkins, MD. President and COO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital (Northampton, Mass.). Dr. Watkins is president and COO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, part of Boston-based Mass General Brigham. She is the first African-American female president in Mass General Brigham history. She is responsible for the strategic, financial, operational and clinical performance of the hospital, as well as the philanthropic and community health activities in the acute care and post-acute facilities. During her tenure, Dr. Watkins has led a $3 million renovation of the labor and delivery unit, the launch of a bariatric surgery service line, the launch of a $26 million emergency department renovation, and the launch of a certified nursing assistant and nursing career development program. Under her leadership, the hospital has earned a number of recognitions, including an "A" safety grade from The Leapfrog Group and a 5-star CMS rating.

Rod Williams. CEO of The Williams Center for Wellness and Recovery (Leesburg, Va.). At The Williams Center for Wellness and Recovery, Mr. Williams handles day-to-day operations, builds strategic partnerships, and empowers community members to understand their role in mental health support. He has led the company in its growth from seven mental health clients to more than 700 in just a year. To scale the program to meet community needs, Mr. Williams collaborates with Loudoun Medical Group's CEO, physicians and advanced practice providers to provide depression screenings and patient referrals. His work has drawn in clinical experts to help develop emergency medicine protocols, community partners to address gaps in care, and a series of government leaders to address immediate community needs in the mental health space. He successfully leveraged his strong relationships within the community to create a team of clinical providers who helped develop an on-site mental health telehealth program at Park View High School in Sterling, Va. after a series of suspected overdoses. Mr. Williams also serves on the board of directors for the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce and was recently appointed to the Loudoun County Economic Development Advisory Council.

Greg Wilmot. CEO and President of East Boston Neighborhood Health Center. In his role leading the largest community-based primary care health system in the state of Massachusetts, Mr. Wilmot oversees 2,000 staff members who in turn see approximately 500,000 patients a year. He also oversees an annual operating revenue of more than $270 million. After transitioning from the organization's COO to its CEO, Mr. Wilmot spearheaded the launch of the organization's strategic plan for 2025, designed to close the gaps in health equity and drive innovation systemwide. Mr. Wilmot also sits on various boards and advisory groups, including the board of health for the Boston Public Health Commission, Advocates for Community Health, Health Equity Compact and Community Servings. Greg is also on the board of trustees for Boston Medical Center Health System.

Eugene Woods. CEO at Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Mr. Woods guides Advocate Health's long-term growth and sustainability, while also overseeing day-to-day operations. His strategic vision prioritizes the fiscal health of the organization through revenue generation, cost control, and operational efficiency and sustainability. Through successful strategic combinations, mergers and acquisitions, he has integrated healthcare entities, achieved cost synergies and enhanced overall organizational effectiveness. He has fostered diversity and equity within Advocate Health by instituting strategic resource groups to enhance recruitment, workforce engagement and professional development. His advocacy extends to community initiatives, including efforts to increase supplier diversity and invest in minority-owned businesses. Mr. Woods has operational oversight over financial management, cultural leadership, diversity promotion and community engagement, ensuring that Advocate Health delivers high-quality healthcare services while making a meaningful impact on the community.

Jomel Whittington. President of the AVALA Physician Network (Covington, La.). Mr. Whittington is the first black president of the AVALA Physician Network. He has personally overseen the addition of three specialty offerings within the network and has expanded AVALA's reach to orthopedics, hand surgery and spine surgery. He has also overseen the expansion of AVALA Pain's clinic by 50%. Under his leadership, AVALA earned multiple awards, such as the 2024 Healthgrades Outpatient Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award. Under his leadership, it was also named a 2024 Top Workplace by USA Today.

Finance, Strategy and Human Resources Leaders

Calvin U. Allen. Executive Vice President and CHRO at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Mr. Allen leads a team of 200 human resource professionals and is responsible for the hospital's people strategic plan, aiming to create the desired employee experience from recruitment through retirement for a total workforce of nearly 29,000. This focus has culminated in the creation of various initiatives and programs, spearheaded by Mr. Allen, that include bringing core recruitment processes in-house, crafting an integrated DEI strategy and designing clear leadership expectations. Recognizing the importance of wellbeing, Mr. Allen created the organization’s first chief well-being officer position to elevate CHOP’s focus on employee overall health, including reducing stress and burnout. Under Mr. Allen's leadership, CHOP has seen its employee engagement scores rise by more than 20 points post-pandemic, and has received numerous awards and recognition for being a top employer, including by Forbes in 2022 as the No. 1 Large Employer in the nation, by the National Organization on Disability in 2023 as a Leading Disability Employer, and the 2023 Military Friendly Employer designation. Mr. Allen is a noted presenter on leadership, wellbeing, corporate culture and strategy, and participated in the release of the U.S. Surgeon General’s framework on workforce mental health and wellbeing.

Chris Allen. CFO at Keck Medicine of USC (Los Angeles). Mr. Allen oversees Keck Medicine’s strategic financial plans, financial and governmental reporting, budgeting, funds flow, revenue cycle and material management. He also leads financial initiatives designed to ensure financial growth and stability, empowering the organization to deliver the highest level of patient care. He has played a key role on Keck Medicine’s finance team since joining the organization as executive administrator for financial planning and decision support. In his most recent role, he served as CFO for Keck Medical Center of USC, which includes Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, overseeing comprehensive financial planning for the medical center. He leads financial strategy, long-range financial planning and capital process, working closely with leadership across Keck Medicine. Daily, he manages the complexities of government regulations, the insurance industry, labor unions, the banking and financing industry, and medical device and pharmaceutical companies, all while making sure that the clinicians and physicians at the health system have the resources to take care of patients. He has also been tasked with leading a revenue cycle initiative to improve the health system’s ability to improve collections, reduce payor denials, and implement new policies and procedures that standardize payor authorizations and improve overall staffing and training. He also serves as staff to the Keck Medical Center hospital governing board for financial matters, and as a member of the health system finance committee.

Marcie A. Atchison, JD. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Stanford Medicine Children's Health (Palo Alto, Calif.). Ms. Marcie is responsible for leading human resources operations and strategy at one of the leading pediatric and obstetric healthcare networks in the country. She oversees a growing bench of executive directors and human resources partners that direct, lead and develop a diverse group of people and operations at Stanford Medicine Children's Health. This includes the communication of policies and procedures, organization development, integrated talent management, and developing the labor strategy, in addition to rewards and recognition programs.

Marna Borieux, PhD. Vice President and Chief of Staff at Inova (Falls Church, Va.). Dr. Borieux has been with Inova since 2019. In her current role, she manages internal and external affairs for the president and CEO, oversees all administrative, financial and operational activities for the office of the president and CEO and the executive administration office, facilitates execution management of the system’s strategic priorities, and collaboratively leads the design and development of Inova’s transformation vehicle. She serves as a strategic advisor, represents the CEO and president in shareholder meetings, manages an annual operating budget of $5.3 million, executes business operations, manages enterprise calendars, steers design, ensures risk management and mitigation, and more. Dr. Borieux has 15 years of experience leading healthcare operations, strategy execution, employee engagement, and community and partner relations in the healthcare setting.

Sharon Brickhouse Martin. Vice President of Health Services Integration at VHC Health (Arlington, Va.). Ms. Brickhouse Martin is responsible for leading, planning and managing strategic initiatives and complex projects that require coordination across multiple VHC Health departments and service lines. She works collaboratively to ensure successful project completion and integration across the entire health system. She has a long-standing commitment to women's health, and leads the team that developed the new Charlotte Stump Benjamin Center for Women’s Health, a space designed by and for women to provide seamless care delivery over the course of women’s lifetimes. She was selected to lead the project due to her years of project management experience, and she led the team in creating the 26,000-square-foot space from inception to opening in just nine months. The women’s health services team has seen great success since opening, with an increase of health encounters by patients seeking primary care, gynecology, obstetrics, cardiology, maternal fetal medicine and breast care. The unification of women’s healthcare in one space not only makes it more convenient for patients, but the increased communication and collaboration between providers also furthers VHC Health's mission to consistently offer the highest level of medical care.

O’Neil Britton, MD. Chief Integration Officer and Executive Vice President of Mass General Brigham (Boston). Dr. Britton is instrumental in designing and executing the systemwide clinical and non-clinical integration strategy. He has led the integration of emergency medicine, radiology, anesthesia, pathology, behavioral and mental health, emergency preparedness and security, and continues to lead and accelerate the integration progress across the enterprise. Dr. Britton oversees enterprise asset management, Mass General Brigham’s operations management system that optimizes patient access, capacity and utilization across the system. This also measures the performance of assets at member organizations and generates critical data to help Mass General Brigham effectively manage its collective assets. For more than two decades, Dr. Britton has held a number of leadership roles at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and Mass General Brigham.

Amanda Buirge. CFO for Roxborough Memorial Hospital and School of Nursing (Philadelphia). Ms. Buirge functions as CFO for both the Roxborough Memorial Hospital and the Roxborough Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, both part of Prime Healthcare. She is responsible for the admissions, billing, accounts payable, health information management, information technology, material management, project management, urgent care, medical group and finance departments. In her dual role, she has mastered the ability to see issues holistically and address issues at the root. Prior to her current position, she served as the director of financial services at Philadelphia-based Temple Health.

Kofi A. Cash, DSc. Executive Director of Operations at McLean Hospital (Belmont, Mass.). Dr. Cash leads a wide portfolio of hospital operations, contracting, business intelligence, and project management scaled for over 270 inpatient beds at McLean Hospital, which is part of Boston-basedMass General Brigham. He joined the hospital in March 2024. Previously, Dr. Cash was COO for UofL Health in Louisville, Ky.

Leon Clark. Chief Academic Affairs Officer and Designated Institutional Official at Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.). In this role, Mr. Clark leads the strategic direction of Sutter Health's research and educational activities, including the development and formation of academic partnerships to expand the clinical talent pipeline and cultivate clinical workforce diversity. Under Mr. Clark's leadership, the health system is on track to quadruple its total medical education capacity, and has set sights on a goal of training 900 residents a year and growing from six graduate medical education locations to 16 by the end of the decade. Before joining Sutter Health in April 2020, Mr. Clark spent 22 years at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, where he served as chair of Mayo's research administration department. In this role, he was instrumental to the re-imagination of research and educational activities to advance patient care.

Sarah Johnson Conway, MD. Interim Senior Vice President for the Office of Johns Hopkins Physicians and CMO for Johns Hopkins Clinical Alliance at Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). Dr. Conway crafts the clinical practice strategy for employed and aligned physicians of Johns Hopkins Medicine, while simultaneously assisting in the development and execution of overall clinical enterprise strategy. She drives efforts to achieve high-quality outcomes and support the fiscal performance of value-based care amongst providers and community partners. To support clinical enterprise growth, she manages aligned physician relationships across the system's lines of business and supports practice integration efforts with employed and independent physician groups. Dr. Conway is also a mentor, serving as the program director for a JHM health systems management fellowship for physician leaders. During her tenure with John Hopkins Medicine, she has held roles of progressive responsibility.

Anthony Cunningham. Chief Revenue Officer at LCMC Health (New Orleans). Mr. Cunningham brings a wealth of experience and a lengthy track record in healthcare leadership to the LCMC Health family. In his role as chief revenue officer, he strategically guides the organization in financial stewardship and further enhances efforts to improve patient access. He most recently served as vice president in key revenue cycle roles within Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, where he was responsible for over $7 billion in net patient service revenue and led teams of over 1,400 full-time employees. He is passionate about leading LCMC Health in its continued commitment to financial excellence and exceptional patient care.

Onyinye Enyia Daniel, PhD. Vice President of Data and Analytics Strategy and Partnerships at Highmark Health (Pittsburgh). Ms. Daniel created the end-to-end enterprise data and analytics strategy for the system and aligned data and analytic priorities with business priorities. Her expertise is in data and analytics, health policy, and data and AI ethics. She also teaches at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health and is on the board at Chicago-based Sinai Health System.

Lisa Davis. Senior Vice President of Strategic Finance Analytics at Ascension (St. Louis). Ms. Davis began her role in the fall of 2022, taking responsibility for the oversight of dynamic financial planning processes, capital planning, analytics and reporting, and mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. She completed the Ascension executive ministry leadership formation program in 2011 and she has been a member of the Ascension Leadership Academy since 2020. Ms. Davis has served on several boards, including the finance board and credit committee of the Nashville Diocese. She previously served as CFO at Ascension Saint Thomas in Nashville, Tenn.

Dalton Douglas. Vice President of Business Intelligence and Population Health at Lone Star Circle of Care (Georgetown, Texas). Mr. Douglas is responsible for the enterprisewide business intelligence and data management strategy at Lone Star Circle of Care. He also leads value-based care for internal and external stakeholders. His data-driven approach drives care quality improvement, particularly in regards to cost. Mr. Douglas's main priority is ensuring that the right care is delivered to the right person at the right time using the right approach. Prior to joining Lone Star, he held population health and business intelligence leadership roles at a large multispecialty clinic. He has also previously worked at Portland, Ore.-based Kaiser Permanente Northwest.

Errol Douglas, PhD. Senior Vice President and CHRO for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Buffalo, N.Y.). In his nine years as Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center's top human resources executive, Dr. Douglas has led several major initiatives, including the formation of the center's first formal corporate social responsibility program, the establishment of an organizational development unit, and the multiyear planning and implementation of a new resource-management system. He leads employment, recruitment and retention efforts at the historic 126-year-old cancer center, and has supported staff growth of more than 30% during his tenure. He also helped cement Roswell Park as one of the top three employers in New York State based on an anonymous worker survey covering work culture, benefits and inclusion. Over nearly two decades as an executive leader in human resources management, Dr. Douglas has driven human-resources engagement that enables high levels of achievement across an organization’s core mission areas.

Dana Dreher-Rodwell. Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Pediatrix Medical Group (Sunrise, Fla.). Ms. Dreher-Rodwell's foundation in information systems and background in healthcare have been key assets to Pediatrix since 2021. Leading the health system's compliance and privacy programs, she guides the team in mitigating and managing compliance risks by developing policy and procedure, performing risk assessments, monitoring outcomes and instituting corrective action in response to identified noncompliance. She also co-leads Pediatrix's environmental social and governance program alongside the DEI senior director. Her role on the system's DEI executive council also allows her to provide valuable input on the Black female experience.

Jimmy Duncan. CHRO of OU Health (Oklahoma City). Mr. Duncan joined OU Health, Oklahoma's flagship academic health system, in January 2023, bringing with him a diverse business background and a wealth of experience in leading human resources functions in various industries, including energy, manufacturing, mining and healthcare. He transformed the human resources function at OU Health, driven by a people and culture roadmap aimed at becoming Oklahoma's healthcare employer of choice for top talent. He has implemented a new and comprehensive leadership development system, a next generation school-to-career workforce pipeline model, and team engagement plans. He is currently developing networking communities within OU Health as part of an employee belonging program. His work focuses on building an inclusive culture where each team member feels valued and can achieve their career aspirations while honoring the commitment to putting patients first, striving for relentless excellence, and valuing integrity, learning, teamwork and inclusion. Prior to his time at OU Health, Mr. Duncan served as senior vice president and CHRO at UC Health in Cincinnati, as well as senior vice president and chief people officer at Arkansas Children's in Little Rock. He also has prior healthcare experience in executive leadership roles at Marietta, Ga.-based WellStar Health System, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare and Phoenix-based Banner Health.

Reginald J. Eadie, MD. Senior Vice President of Physician Enterprise Development at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). As senior vice president of physician enterprise development at Trinity Health, Dr. Eadie creates and implements national strategies for all hospital-based services, increases organizational value through third-party partnerships, and grows same-store sales. He also acts as an executive sponsor for the African-American colleague resource group. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was appointed as co-chair of the Connecticut Covid-19 Vaccine Advisory Group, provided Covid-19 education on a local and national level, and initiated New England’s first 24-hour Vax-a-Thon to vaccinate thousands of Connecticut residents. He is an emergency medicine physician and seasoned healthcare executive, having previously served in various executive leadership roles within Detroit Medical Center. Dr. Eadie was also the recipient of the inaugural Benjamin J Tyson Health Equity Award, presented to him due to his lasting contributions to the advancement of African-American healthcare leaders and the quality improvement in services provided to underserved and minority communities.

Brandon Elliott, RN. Vice President of Operations for Ohio Division at BrightView (Cincinnati). As the operational overseer of 37 Brightview Centers in Ohio, Mr. Elliot leads key areas and collaborates with state-level medical, nursing, and behavioral health authorities. He works to optimize center performance and spearheads recruitment, training and evaluation efforts. He also facilitates new center launches, provides input on budgeting and fosters cohesive strategies in management meetings. He previously served as an operations director for BrightView's training program and has been promoted three times since starting at BrightView in 2019.

Ohme Entin. Vice President of Orlando (Fla.) Health and COO for Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center. Ms. Entin is the COO forOrlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center, the system's 808-bed flagship, where she drives operational performance and executes strategic initiatives. She previously servedas president of the 84-bed Orlando Health St. Cloud Hospital, and before that was COO ofOrlando Health Dr. P. Phillips Hospital. She brings to her role career expertisein emergency services, operations and facility construction.

Bridgett Feagin. Executive Vice President and CFO of Connecticut Children's Medical Center (Hartford). Ms. Feagin provides financial leadership and strategic guidance for the system. She has a collaborative leadership style and provides financial data coaching to the clinical and operational leaders. She is also the executive leader of the Children's Health Consortium, the only revenue cycle management company focused on pediatrics.

Rachel Felix. Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing and Growth Officer  of Boston Medical Center Health System. Ms. Felix oversees marketing, communications, development, community engagement, external affairs and mission for Boston Medical Center Health System. She is working to understand and connect with patients, community partners, donors and more. She has strategically upgraded the organization’s brand, identity and voice to highlight the system's value-adds amid a competitive Boston healthcare space. She has achieved this primarily by launching a brand campaign called Rewriting Healthcare, which showcases the innovative and equitable care at Boston Medical Center and is considered among the health system's most visible marketing campaigns. Ms. Felix earned a Chief Medical Officer Excellence Award from CMO Connect, honored for the organization’s bold new vision for clinical excellence and health equity. Ms. Felix serves on the board of directors of The New Commonwealth Fund, PRX and Women’s Lunch Place. 

Fritz François, MD. Executive Vice President and Vice Dean, Chief of Hospital Operations NYU Langone Health for NYU Langone Health (New York City). Dr. François oversees all patient care activity in four inpatient locations and all hospital-based outpatient facilities on the Manhattan campus, guaranteeing the highest levels of quality and safety. He shapes key operational initiatives to standardize quality patient care, proactively develop patient safety risk reduction strategies, improve throughput, eliminate waste, optimize available technological tools, improve patient satisfaction, and systematically address health inequities. In the past year, his leadership contributed to NYU Langone receiving top rankings for quality and safety, including being named the No. 1 hospital for quality and safety by Vizient.

Nat’e Guyton, DM, MSN, RN. COO of Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center (Los Angeles). Dr. Guyton is responsible for the oversight of all operations at California Hospital Medical Center, inclusive of security, food and nutrition services, pharmacy, rehab, IT, new construction, facilities, clinical engineering, telecommunications, parking, transportation, environmental services and diagnostic imaging. During her tenure with the medical center, she has filled 95% of vacant positions and reduced employee turnover by 50%. With her guidance, costs associated with agency and contract labor have been reduced by 75%, with over $730,000 saved in one fiscal year. Under her leadership, the medical center has also seen increased cleanliness scores, decreased workplace violence, enhanced food and nutrition services, and more. She brings over 25 years of healthcare experience to her current role.

LeWanza Harris, MD. Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). As vice president of quality and regulatory affairs, Dr. Harris provides strategic leadership and oversight for all clinical quality functions across the health system. Her efforts at Mount Sinai have led to success in clinical risk management, regulatory compliance, infection prevention and control, surgical and procedural safety, and patient safety. Dr. Harris also oversees and collaborates with digital technology teams to create machine learning algorithms that better identify and prioritize patients for interventions, thus reducing readmissions. In addition, she serves as the vice chair of the Healthcare Association of New York State Statewide Steering Committee on Quality Initiatives.

Zach Harris. Vice President of Ancillary Services at John Muir Health (Walnut Creek, Calif.). Mr. Harris leads a team of more than 1,800 caregivers at John Muir Health, contributing to revenues exceeding $500 million and expenses of $200 million. His extensive cross-departmental portfolio plays a pivotal role in the system's operational and strategic success. Throughout his career, he has sponsored population health management strategies, overseen the department of health data systems, and driven payment transformation to value-based capitation models. In addition, he has served as executive sponsor for a $300 million comprehensive cancer center, spearheaded sustainability initiatives and led the Covid-19 pandemic response. In the last year alone, Mr. Harris has grown outpatient volumes in his ancillary care areas by over 20%, increased the staff engagement scores for his team to the top decile nationally, and committed to reducing the system's carbon emissions by at least 50% by 2030. He has also authored literature on various healthcare topics, including diabetes incidence in minority populations and the significance of primary and preventive care.

Edmund Hodge. Executive Vice President and CHRO at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). Mr. Hodge is responsible for leading the national strategy to engage and serve Trinity Health team members, empowering more than 150,000 colleagues across 100-plus hospitals. He joined the system in 2017 from Orlando-based AdventHealth. For six years, he served as senior executive officer and chief people officer for most of AdventHealth’s organizations in the Central Florida Division. He spent more than a decade as executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Adventist HealthCare in Rockville, Md., where he provided executive leadership for a number of business units, as well as corporate administrative and shared services. He also served in several leadership roles for Huguley Memorial Medical Center (now Texas Health Huguley) in Fort Worth, Texas.

Teal Holden. Senior Vice President, Ambulatory Services and Post-Acute Care at Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston). Ms. Holden exercises executive and strategic oversight over more than 100 outpatient locations throughout Greater Houston. She acts as the executive lead for the Memorial Hermann Health System's relationships with United Surgical Partners International and UTHealth. She serves as the chair of the system's diversity, equity and inclusion leadership council. Ms. Holden co-founded and acts as co-chair of the steering committee for Women Leaders of Memorial Hermann, an 800-member group that supports the inspiration, engagement and development of female employees.

Michael D. Holmes. Executive Vice President and COO for Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. Mr. Holmes oversees all budget mitigation activities for Yale New Haven Hospital, including the financial relationship with Yale School of Medicine. In addition, he serves as incident commander, where he handles the hospital's responses to crises. Most recently, he led the hospital in its Covid-19 preparations and response, which resulted in more than 22,000 patients cared for and a low 5.5% Covid mortality rate over the course of the pandemic. He also has oversight of clinical services for behavioral health, emergency medicine, laboratory services, pathology, respiratory care and all key clinical support services. Currently, Mr. Holmes is co-lead for the $850 million neurology capital expansion project, set to open in 2026, which will feature 214 inpatient beds, a 40% expansion of interventional and radiology services, a 40% expansion of emergency department services, and new parking garages. He is also a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the National Association of Healthcare Executives.

Loudrige Jean-Philippe. COO of Palm Beach Health Network Physician Group (Dallas). Ms. Jean-Philippe provides strategic and operational leadership within the framework of Palm Beach Health Network Physician Group's mission, vision and values. She aligns strategies, processes, practices and education around customer experience, barrier-free access and a standardized operational approach to all clinic workflows. Her ultimate goal is to foster strong employee, patient and physician satisfaction. Under her leadership, the organization has seen improvements in several key areas, including Google Star ratings and the time it takes to room patients.

DeLancey Johnson, DBA. Senior Vice President and Associate Chief Talent Officer at Parkland Health (Dallas). Dr. Johnson provides strategic leadership in the planning and implementation of quality-based, integrated human resources programs. He has been instrumental in the development of a community health needs assessment project, which helps address the community's equity and health management issues. He has also created a year-long learning and experience apprenticeship program to align Dallas youth with Parkland Health's needs in order to promote career pathway education. He also established a pet therapy program, facilitated the review and approval process within the office of talent management, and launched a holiday program that helped over 500 employees and 1,600 dependents. Currently, Dr. Johnson is focusing on employee health benefits, including health plan spending, the system's certified leader program, and employee recognition and reward programs.

Adele Johnson-Kebe. Vice President and CHRO at Dayton (Ohio) Children's Hospital. Ms. Johnson-Kebe is responsible for the strategic human resource leadership at Dayton Children's. She is charged with the design, delivery, communication and execution of diversity and inclusion programs systemwide. Since joining the health system in 2021 as its first CHRO, Ms. Johnson-Kebe has partnered with leaders across all levels to embed diversity, equity and inclusion strategies throughout Dayton Children's. She has also implemented a restructuring of the employee experience department for improved efficiency and effectiveness. In addition, she hired the system's first on-site staff support clinician for nutrition and mental health support in 2023.

David A. Jones. Executive Vice President and CHRO at Wellstar Health System (Marietta, Ga.). Mr. Jones is executive vice president and CHRO for Wellstar. In this role, he has overall systemwide responsibility for establishing, enabling and maintaining organizational effectiveness and a positive employee relations environment. He is responsible for providing senior executive leadership and oversight for the delivery of HR solutions to the business, including human capital strategy, culture design and change management, team effectiveness, workforce planning, performance management planning, succession management, diversity and inclusion, and employee relations. Previously, he served as CHRO at Stanford University and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president of national human resources. Mr. Jones' nearly 30-year career in human resources has spanned across the healthcare, academic and corporate sectors.

Lisa Kelly-Croswell. Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Office of Boston Medical Center Health System (Boston). Ms. Kelly-Croswell leads a team of more than 100 employees in a human resources department that serves a healthcare system of over 10,000 employees, including doctors, nursing, administrators, support services and more. The HR team includes a wide variety of functions, such as occupational health, HR information systems, volunteer services and talent acquisition. She drives organization growth strategies for the system and has been instrumental in an industry hit hard by staffing shortages. Her role is essential to the well-being and retention of her organization's workforce.

Qualenta Kivett, JD. Executive Vice President and Chief People and Talent Officer at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital. As executive vice president and chief people and talent officer, Ms. Kivett leads system initiatives that are focused on long-term strategic planning to complement the hospital's overarching vision and goals. She has also spearheaded efforts to partner more directly with team members and leadership on people and culture initiatives, transitioning towards a more collaborative workforce. In 2022, Ms. Kivett initiated a benefits survey of team members that led to a benefits program redesign and the creation of a remote plan that simplifies accessing the new benefits. Part of this redesign was the implementation of mental health support programs at zero cost for team members. She has also played an instrumental role in a compensation redesign and market adjustment totaling $48 million since 2022.

Marlow Levy. Vice President of Operations for Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville (Fla.). Mr. Levy serves as vice president of operations for Baptist Health system's flagship facility. He has direct oversight of the cardiovascular service line, imaging, radiology, laboratory, security, emergency management, and food and nutrition services. He was responsible for leading the successful enterprisewide implementation of Epic EHR and executed on a plan to reduce contract labor throughout operations. He is a member of the system's veterans assistance and support team, as well as the Black organization for leadership and diversity. Before joining Baptist Health in June 2022, he held high-level leadership positions at Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente Health, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville (Fla.), Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Aurora Health and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Over the past 10 years, he has led impactful projects to improve hospital safety, patient care delivery, surgical throughput, operational efficiency and patient experience.

Michelle McGuire. Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Children's National Hospital (Washington, D.C.). As executive vice president and chief strategy officer, Ms. McGuire offers strategic oversight and guarantees alignment of organizational goals. She manages external-facing operations that uphold strategy, new initiatives and market development in the marketing and communications, community engagement, and advocacy and government arenas. Ms. McGuire has been with Children’s National since 2011.

Clement Miller. COO of Salinas (Calif.) Valley Health. Mr. Miller manages the overall operations of 20 clinical and non-clinical departments at Salinas Valley Health Medical Center. He oversees 81 percent of its staff and 70 percent of its operating expenses. In addition to his role at the health system, he serves on the board of directors for Rancho Cielo, a center for underserved youth, and Black Leaders and Allies Collaborative. Prior to his current role as COO, Mr. Miller joined Salinas Valley Health as the director of surgical services and rose through the ranks.

Kunle Modupe. Senior Vice President of Hospitality Services at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Mr. Modupe is a health care and hotel operations leader with a track record of success in devising and executing targeted strategies to improve all aspects of both the patient and employee experience. Mr. Modupe has led the integration of hospitality services across the network. An example of his successful initiatives is the Wayfinding initiative, which implemented a digital navigation app to help people find their way around Hackensack Meridian Health hospitals. Through his work, Hackensack Meridian Health was ranked No. 1 in the nation for diversity, equity and inclusion in the 2023 Fair360 (formerly Diversity Inc.) Top Hospitals and Health Systems list. Prior to joining Hackensack Meridian, Mr. Modupe served as director of support services for Weill Cornell Medicine.

Gwendolyn Oglesby-Odom, EdD. Vice President of Community Engagement and Enterprise at Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Dr. Oglesby-Odom is the senior executive liaison between the community and Advocate Health for 68 hospitals and over 1,200 outpatient facilities in six states. She is responsible for developing strategies and programs that maximize relationships and support the mission, development and implementation of an integrated community engagement strategy. She fosters engagement opportunities for other Advocate Health executive leaders to ensure the organization is leveraging resources, meeting strategic goals and maximizing responsiveness to the community. Her team partners with the corporate social responsibility team to launch active community sponsorships congruent with the needs of local communities. The community engagement teams identify key corporations and businesses in each region and oversee the development and execution of plans to build relationships with them within approved budget objectives.

Elizabeth Paskas, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Patient Experience Officer at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Dr. Paskas provides strategic direction to Hackensack Meridian Health, promoting human-centric care, outstanding services and compassion. She is responsible for researching, designing and accelerating best practices and innovation. Knowing that the need for patient experience advocacy is at an all-time high, she is leading a project that includes assessing current standards of practice and processes that impact how patients experience care, ultimately transforming the patient journey from admission through care transition and beyond. She also led the inception and design of the Experience Innovation Café, a venue for decision makers to participate in designing and accelerating improved solutions. Additionally, she created and now leads an annual national patient experience summit, with more than 14 states participating in the inaugural event.

John Pourciau. Assistant Vice President of Government Affairs at LCMC Health (New Orleans). Mr. Pourciau is responsible for supporting governmental relations, fostering strategic partnerships and developing innovative initiatives for LCMC. He brings nearly 15 years of healthcare and government relations experience to the system. Prior to joining LCMC, he served the New Orleans community as chief of staff for LaToya Cantrell in her positions as mayor and district B councilmember. He has provided high-level local and state legislative oversight and advised the city on key programs including the Fair Share Initiative, affordable housing policy development and other priorities. Mr. Pourciau’s leadership provides an added level of strategic counsel and community support to help enhance healthcare throughout Louisiana. He has spent his career in public service, influencing initiatives such as voter outreach, public health, criminal justice reform and more. He has also addressed pertinent issues like healthcare access, social justice and government affairs in both the public and private sector.

Patricia Plair. CFO at Jackson Memorial Hospital (Miami). Ms. Plair joined Jackson from Orlando (Fla.) Health, where she was CFO and chief staffing officer for more than three years. In her role, Ms. Plair oversaw all of the major facets of the financial and accounting operations at the 898- bed hospital. Additionally, she worked closely with hospital leadership in developing strategic initiatives that expanded and improved key financial programs such as revenue cycle, audit and supply chain.

William Pryor. Executive Vice President and CHRO at Westchester Medical Center Health Network (Valhalla, N.Y.). Mr. Pryor manages the workforce recruitment, labor relations and workforce policies for Westchester Medical Center Health Network's 13,000-plus employees, including 3,000 physicians. He has more than 30 years of experience in human resources across multiple healthcare systems. Before joining WMCHealth in January, Mr. Pryor served as executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Buffalo, N.Y.-based Catholic Health, a $1.2 billion healthcare system comprising four hospitals and other medical facilities across five campuses. Mr. Pryor is also a former lecturer for the School of Business at the University of North Carolina and was named to Buffalo Business First's Power 250 List in 2021 and 2022.

LaVonne Pulliam. Chief Compliance Officer at University Hospitals (Cleveland). Ms. Pulliam oversees compliance, ethics and privacy programs for University Hospitals, ensuring institutional adherence to internal policies and external legal and regulatory requirements. She is also responsible for leading the organization in fostering a strong ethical culture. Ms. Pulliam works with the UH board of directors and senior leadership team to promote ethical behavior and ensure that each UH caregiver consistently upholds UH values, follows UH policies and complies with applicable legal requirements. Additionally, Ms. Pulliam administers UH’s confidential channels for reporting compliance risks, thus supporting a "Speak-Up" culture in action. Ms. Pulliam is responsible for the implementation and execution of the UH compliance program, which covers a broad range of topics such as fraud, waste and abuse, privacy, conflicts of interest, billing and coding, the emergency medical treatment and active labor act, Title IX sexual misconduct, patient civil rights and ethical culture. She also conducts compliance and ethics training annually with the UH board and each market board, along with in-person training for new board members during board orientation.

Andre Reid. Chief Audit Officer at Jackson Health System (Miami). Mr. Reid oversees audit and compliance departments from a strategy alignment and synergy perspective at Jackson. He has been with Jackson for more than six years, most recently as associate vice president of internal audit. He has also held roles at Royal Caribbean International and DHL.

Omar C. Reid.​Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer forHarris Health System (Bellaire, Texas).Mr. Reid, executive vice president and chief people officer for Harris Health System,has served as the top human resources executive at Harris Health since 2016. He oversees all human resources functions for the system's 9,500 full-timeemployees,including talent acquisition, organizational development, talent management,employee and labor relations, compensation, benefits, HR information systems, the Harris Health Schoolof Diagnostic MedicalImaging, occupational health, spiritual care, and DEI. Before joining Harris Health, Mr. Reid served as the human resources director for the City of Houston for six years, and spent more than 25 years at United Parcel Service in various operational and administrative capacities. He is also a nationally recognized speaker on leadership, transformation and change.

David Simpkins. Chief Marketing and Communications Officer and Senior Vice President of Community Affairs at Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health. Mr. Simpkins is responsible for providing strategic leadership and direction for brand management, marketing, strategic communications, public relations and community affairs for the nine hospitals and 557 care sites across the Finger Lakes region and North Country in Upstate New York and ACM Global Laboratories. Since joining the health system in 2022, Mr. Simpkins led the consolidation of the marketing and communications team across the enterprise, implemented customer relationship management-driven strategies and campaigns that resulted in double-digit growth in new patient acquisition, and recently initiated an enterprisewide brand revitalization. As the senior vice president for community affairs, he has led the formation of an integrated strategy and team to leverage new and existing public-private partnerships to focus on addressing social determinants of health and to foster meaningful improvements in community health and well-being. Mr. Simpkins previously held executive positions at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine and American Cancer Society.

Kevin Smith. CFO at SSM Health (St. Louis). Mr. Smith is responsible for the direction and oversight of financial services across SSM Health's four-state network, including long-term positioning, operational finance, financial and regulatory reporting, revenue cycle management, internal audit, financial planning, operating and capital budgeting. Prior to joining SSM at the end of 2023, he served as CFO at Annapolis, Md.-based Luminis Health. There, he co-led a $300 million capital campaign to build a new tower on the main campus.

Janet Smith-Hill. CHRO at SSM Health (St. Louis). Ms. Smith-Hill has helped secure SSM Health as a top employer across its four-state network. She sets the course for systemwide human resources activities, overseeing market HR partners, total rewards, talent acquisition, HR operations, talent management, learning and organizational development, and employee and labor relations. She’s also focused on DEI and on ensuring that SSM Health achieves exceptional engagement and wellbeing for all employees. She brings more than 30 years of experience modeling values-based leadership, exhibiting strategic business partnering, delivering high-impact talent solutions, fostering organizational health and culture change, promoting DEI, implementing forward-thinking performance management initiatives, and cultivating a positive and engaging workplace environment. She has also championed novel DEI initiatives to help with career development, retention and talent mobility. Ms. Smith-Hill has also been instrumental in SSM Health’s initiatives to cultivate the next generation of health care workers. This includes partnering with racially and ethnically diverse professional organizations and academic institutions to develop fellowship and other training programs. In its administrative fellowship and summer administrative internship programs, 60% of participants are racially and ethnically diverse.

Julie Spencer Washington. Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Officer at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). Ms. Spencer Washington has over 30 years of experience in strategic marketing, brand, team building and digital communications. Currently she guides Trinity Health's marketing, communications, customer experience and philanthropy efforts. She also serves as a board member at Amyris. Immediately prior to joining Trinity Health, she served as chief marketing officer for Champion Petfoods.

Joi Torrence-Hill. Chief of Operations at USC Norris Cancer Hospital at Keck Medicine of USC (Los Angeles). Ms. Torrence-Hill is responsible for managing the coordination of a wide variety of fiscal, strategic, operational and technical initiatives at Keck Medicine. She ensures the delivery of high-value, high-quality cancer-related services to achieve strategic and operational goals. Additionally, she partners with administrative and clinical leaders to foster and grow service excellence, develop clinical programs, support the integration of clinical trials and establish the business, planning and delivery of existing and new precision therapies for patients. She has also been actively involved in diversity, equity and inclusion programs for years across multiple health systems. She is currently serving as the inaugural sponsor of Keck Medicine's Black and African American employee resource group, which ensures equitable treatment for all staff members and equitable care for all patients seen.

Herbert J. Vallier. Executive Vice President and CHRO for Ascension and CEO for Ascension SmartHealth Solutions (St. Louis). Mr. Vallier has worked with Ascension since 2006 and was appointed to his current position in 2013. His more than 30 years of experience in human resources administration has helped the health system overcome financial challenges, personnel shortages and reorganization. Mr. Vallier also helped the system develop a talent recruitment plan to bring diverse leaders to the organization. He currently serves on the Catholic Health Association’s "We Are Called" pledge advisory group, and was a past member of the Catholic Health Association diversity and health disparities committee.

Clinical Leadership / Diversity and Health Equity

Pamela Abner. Senior Vice President, Health Equity Officer at Mount Sinai Health System (New York City). Ms. Abner has more than 15 years of experience working with industry leaders to establish strategic and innovative programs for diversity, inclusion and equity. By using research methodologies, creating education curricula and applying best practices, she continuously seeks to help organizations identify discriminatory practices and disparities. She focuses on eliminating barriers to care, employment and education for underserved and underrepresented groups as well as fostering relationships with community partners to improve overall care.

Ije Akunyili, MD. Chief Medical Officer for Jersey City (N.J.) Medical Center. Dr. Akunyili became the first Black person to hold the CMO role for Jersey City Medical Center in January 2023. She oversees a comprehensive medical staff in ensuring the highest quality patient care, from initial assessment and stabilization to complex surgical interventions and comprehensive rehabilitation. She handles strategic planning, quality improvement initiatives, physician engagement and patient care experience. During her tenure, she has helped to solidify the medical center's position as a regional leader in trauma care, leading the opening of two new trauma bays in its emergency department. Dr. Akunyili has been key to the hospital's utilization of the new neuro interventional cath lab, which makes it the only facility in its county to provide full-time open and endovascular neurosurgical care of complex neurovascular pathology. She has also focused on the continued delivery of full-spectrum cardiac care, supported by a partnership with Rutgers University. She is currently a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine at Rutgers Medical School as well.

Paul Alexander, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Health Equity and Transformation Officer at RWJBarnabas Health (Orange, N.J.). As executive vice president and chief health equity and transformation officer, Dr. Alexander plays a critical role in building and streamlining RWJBarnabas Health's infrastructure and advancing its transition to value-based care. Dr. Alexander also oversees the system's social impact and community investment practice, leading the system to identify and address social determinants of health impacting patients, surrounding communities and employees. His responsibilities include workforce development, transitional housing, local buying and hiring efforts, sustainability and the system’s e-referral integration initiative. In addition, he oversees the system's Institute for Prevention and Recovery and advises the system's employee health plan and corporate care functions. Dr. Alexander also plays a key role in RWJBarnabas Health's population health activities, as well as the system's expanded use of analytics and data tracking to address population health. He is also credited with the creation of a health equity council for health system leadership. He joined the system in early 2020.

Answorth Allen, MD. Associate Surgeon-in-Chief and Deputy Medical Director for Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). As associate surgeon-in-chief and deputy medical director at HSS, Dr. Allen oversees the hospital's orthopedic endeavors. Throughout his career, he has helped advance patient care, drive surgical innovation and address complex musculoskeletal conditions. He specializes in shoulder, knee and elbow surgery, skills he currently utilizes as lead team orthopedist for the New York Knicks basketball team. He has also served as team physician for the New York Mets and Long Island Rough Riders, and as an orthopedic consultant for the West Indies Cricket Board of Control. Additional leadership roles include serving as an attending orthopedic surgeon for both HSS and NewYork Presbyterian hospital and as a professor of clinical orthopedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Allen's scholarly output includes over 150 articles and book chapters on orthopedic conditions.

Machelle Allen, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City). Dr. Allen became deputy CMO at NYC Health+Hospitals in 2013 before being promoted to system CMO in 2017. She is an obstetrics and gynecology physician by training and served as associate medical director at the health system's Bellevue hospital before becoming a leader at the system level. Dr. Allen has shaped the clinical service line setup, influencing systemwide clinical initiatives like the tele-ICU, point of care imaging, early intensive care unit mobility, AI-powered electroencephalogram interpretations, and teleneurology. She also established the office of clinical operations and a systemwide office of women’s health services.

Peta Ann Anderson. Chief Nursing Officer at Jackson North Medical Center (Miami). Ms. Anderson is the chief nursing officer for Jackson, working with the system since July 2023. Prior to joining the system, she spent 14 years at Aventura (Fla.) Hospital, where she was responsible for patient throughput, proper placement, high-quality care, and prompt discharges, transfers and admissions.

Dianne Aroh, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (Tacoma, Wash.). Ms. Aroh's responsibilities at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health include nursing, care management and pharmacy. She is also the division's liaison for food and nutrition services, as well as environmental services. Ms. Aroh is passionate about mentoring and empowering nurses and ensures they are included in the decision-making process.

Tommye Austin, PhD, MSN. Chief Nursing Executive, Eastern Region at BJC HealthCare (St. Louis). Dr. Austin oversees about 8,000 nursing professionals throughout the BJC HealthCare system's eastern region. She is the system's most senior nursing executive. She is responsible for patient and integrated care management strategies, patient safety platforms, clinical care managemet system direction, and staff support. In her role, she puts into practice initiatives that enhance patient outcomes, standardize care and improve clinical workforce effectiveness. She joined the system in 2022 from University Health in San Antonio, where she was serving as senior vice president and chief nursing executive.

O.N. "Ray" Bignall, MD. Chief Diversity and Health Equity Officer at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Columbus, Ohio). Dr. Bignall is chief diversity and health equity officer at Nationwide Children's Hospital, as well as a pediatric nephrologist, researcher and clinical associate professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Bignall leads an office of nine, championing Nationwide Children's ongoing efforts to cultivate an inclusive and diverse workforce. He is considered one of the thought leaders in pediatric diversity and equity initiatives and has been invited to give more than 60 talks, including giving a keynote address at the 2022 Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting. He has served as a member of The White House health equity roundtable series on access to care and serves as the chair of the American Society of Nephrology’s healthcare justice committee. Among his most crucial hospitalwide achievements was the increase in the diversity of Nationwide Children’s medical trainee classes. Dr. Bignall was the lead faculty member on the initiative, and the hospital’s 2023 class of residents was the most diverse in its history.

Evelyn Balogun, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Inspira Medical Group (Mullica Hill, N.J.). Dr. Balogun first joined Inspira Health in 2014 as the medical director of occupational health, employee health and urgent care. Now, she acts as the clinical leader for 175 providers, who serve five counties in southern New Jersey. She oversees all aspects of patient care services within the areas of primary care, specialty care, urgent care and occupational health. She is also the clinical lead for the organization's telemedicine programs, as well as the leader of its population health initiatives. Her ultimate goal is to treat each patient as an individual, taking into account their unique life situation, experiences, background and culture.

Carol Biggs, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive at Jackson Health System (Miami). Dr. Biggs is responsible for the strategic and financial development of the nursing department for one of the nation’s largest public healthcare systems. Dr. Biggs is responsible for providing leadership to plan, direct, execute, and evaluate strategic and operational priorities to ensure quality nursing practice, continuous improvement, consistent standards, and policies that are in accordance with the health system’s vision and mission, as well as all applicable laws and regulatory/accreditation requirements. By working closely with the medical staff, she ensures that best practices in patient care delivery are integrated throughout the organization.

Phyllita Bolden. Director of Community Health at Bon Secours Hampton Roads (Portsmouth, Va.). Ms. Bolden is responsible for developing and managing programs which support community health. Her focuses include health equity, economic and community development, coalition building and community engagement. She develops a working knowledge of existing conditions, trends, activities and public policies affecting the community, and assists with assessments of health status and conditions within the social environment. She leads in the creation and approvals of community health needs assessments, leads updates to market leadership and the board about the status of implementation plans, develops effective relationships with community leaders and residents, and collaborates with and maintains a network of civic partners to address social determinants of health. Under her leadership, the Community Health Hub has become a major support for the community, offering programs and services tailored to meet diverse needs. Recognizing the interconnectedness of physical, mental and emotional health, Ms. Bolden has partnered with various organizations, including local public schools, Stop the Violence 757, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Connecting Communities. Through these efforts and others, community members have participated in mental health walks, community gardening, community dinners, and "hairapy" sessions.

Char Boulch. CNO of Saline Memorial Hospital (Benton, Ark.). In her role as CNO for Saline Memorial hospital, Ms. Boulch offers daily advice, guidance, direction and authorization to help the hospital achieve its clinical and financial goals. In collaboration with the board of managers, she designs and implements a strategic plan that highlights clinical excellence, financial performance, and market and business development. In addition, she is tasked with creating and maintaining proper operational controls, as well as administrative and reporting procedures. Since joining the hospital, she has helped stabilize the nursing leadership team and led the hospital in earning an "A" grade for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group for fall 2023. Prior to current role, she was CNO for Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville, Ore.

Marlon Brewer, MD. Associate Director, Department of Ambulatory Care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst (New York City). Dr. Brewer is the associate director of the Department of Ambulatory Care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst. He advocates for improving health in underserved and minority communities. He also champions the recruitment of more people of color to work in the field of medicine. Dr. Brewer was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a member of the Board of Health of the City of New York in 2006 and served for nine years.

Medell Briggs-Malonson, MD. Chief of Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for UCLA Health (Los Angeles). Dr. Briggs-Malonson is responsible for the implementation and oversight of organizational structures and initiatives that promote inclusivity and equity among UCLA Health staff, patients and communities. Since her tenure began in 2021, she implemented several policies, committees and educational campaigns to increase inclusivity and belonging within UCLA Health. She also led a redesign of the EHR system to effectively identify and mitigate clinical and patient experience inequities through data analytics and performance improvement. She stewarded UCLA Health’s participation in the Healthcare Anchor Network, showcasing a commitment to advancing racial and socioeconomic equity within divested communities of color, and oversaw the launch of the UCLA Health Homeless Healthcare Collaborative, which deploys mobile clinics throughout Los Angeles to care for people experiencing homelessness. Dr. Briggs-Malonson is co-chair of the HHS-ONC Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, where she helps to guide the integration of equity and justice principles into national policy and standards. For her work as an emergency physician, she has received several awards of recognition, including the 2021 25 Under 45 from the Emergency Medicine Residents' Association and the 2023 DEI Executive of the Year from Los Angeles Business Journal.

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. Administrator of CMS (Baltimore). Ms. Brooks-LaSure oversees several CMS programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the healthcare.gov marketplace. She was a key player in the development of the Affordable Care Act in her roles at the CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight and within HHS. She also assisted with the passing of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 as part of the staff for the U.S. House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee.

Kevin M. Bush, Jr., EdD. Enterprise Director of Shared Surgical Services at Emory Healthcare (Atlanta). Dr. Bush is enterprise director of shared surgical services for Emory Healthcare, where he leads the development of goals and objectives for perioperative support and shared surgical services. His role involves administrative and financial oversight for the planning, direction, staffing, coordination and control of all related activities across 124 operating rooms within the system's academic, acute care and ambulatory surgery sites, including endoscopy and ancillary services. Dr. Bush plays a critical role in patient safety and satisfaction, ensuring the creation of reliable systems to meet quality goals, providing operational accountability for quality improvement, implementing standards and maintaining regulatory compliance. He brings over two decades of leadership experience in the academic medical center setting and has expertise in revenue cycle management, ambulatory services, human resources, perioperative operations and educational initiatives. He is board certified in patient safety, healthcare risk management, healthcare quality and infection prevention.

Gary Butts, MD. Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the Mount Sinai Health System and Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs for the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai of Mount Sinai Health System and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York City). Dr. Butts is responsible for the oversight, management, and integration of all diversity programs and policies for the Mount Sinai Health System. He ensures diversity and inclusion are an integral core institutional value and aligns resource across the health system, including the medical and graduate schools, graduate medical education and the Mount Sinai Hospitals Group. He chaired The Task Force to Address Racism which led to the Road Map For Action with recommendations for six principles and 11 key initiatives to reaffirm and advance Mount Sinai's mission as an anti-racist institution.

Bryan Buckley. Director of Health Equity Initiatives at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (Washington, D.C.). Dr. Buckley's overarching duties are promoting and building an inclusive healthcare ecosystem, processes and infrastructure that address inequities in health and healthcare. To achieve these goals, he aims to grow a portfolio of equity initiatives like collaborations, contracts, grants, research and policies meant to create equitable access to care services, reduce disparities in outcomes and improve overall health of marginalized or underrepresented communities. Dr. Buckley holds a number of additional leadership positions, including serving as a board member of the American Public Health Association and the American Heart Association Greater Washington, D.C. region.

Ahnyel Burkes, DNP, RN. Executive Director of Louisiana State Nurses Association (New Orleans). Dr. Burkes oversees Ascension's national residency program for new graduate nurses and transition-to-practice programs. She is a dynamic leader and collaborator. Dr. Burkes has been an advocate for mitigating healthcare workplace violence in Louisiana since 2018.

Frederick Bw'Ombongi. Vice President of Operations-Ancillary Support Services at Allina Health (Minneapolis). Mr. Bw'Ombongi is vice president of operations for ancillary support services at Allina Health. As a key leader in Allina's diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging work, he recently forged a successful youth mentoring partnership between Allina and St. Paul Youth and Family Services. He also oversees a comprehensive effort to improve the provision of language services to the diverse linguistic communities Allina Health serves. Mr. Bw'Ombongi 's work strengthens his team's capacity to deliver culturally-responsive, trauma-informed care to patients and employees. He previously served as vice president of operations-access management at Allina.

Caren Caldwell. Associate Vice President at UPMC Health Plan (Pittsburgh). Ms. Caldwell leverages her more than 20 years of work experience in the healthcare industry to manage member enrollment eligibility, member connectivity, participant resources and service coordination for UPMC Health Plan. Her work helps to improve health outcomes for vulnerable members who qualify for medical assistance and Medicare or who require a nursing facility level of care. She also regularly leads the CHC Coalition meetings, where other Pennsylvania-based managed care organizations discuss best practices and trends. Ms. Caldwell is currently a member of the National Association of Health Service Executives, a member of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Minority Health, and a board member with Gwen's Girls, an organization offering programs, education and experiences to the area's at-risk children and young adults.

William Carroll, PharmD. Chief Pharmacy Officer and Vice President of Network Pharmacy Services at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Dr. Carroll's role at Hackensack Meridian Health involves leading strategy and policy development for networkwide pharmacy services and initiatives to promote cohesiveness, standardization and consistency. His responsibilities extend to the expansion of network pharmacy services into ambulatory clinical practices and the population health space. His work helps to build a pharmacy-related corporate infrastructure, harmonize policies and procedures, standardize clinical practice models, and ensure that pharmacies take an active role in patient satisfaction and readmission reduction. Prior to his current role, Dr. Carroll served as the system vice president of pharmacy services for Rochester Regional Health in New York.

James E. Carter, Jr., MD. Director of the Center for Functional Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Carter has served as director of Cleveland Clinic's Center for Functional Medicine since his appointment in 2023. His main focuses are functional medicine, social determinants of health, health justice, systems biology, and lifestyle modification for prevention, healing and recovery. He is board certified in internal medicine, cardiology and vascular medicine, and is a fellowship-trained interventional cardiologist. He brings nearly 40 years of healthcare experience to his role. One of Dr. Carter's major career accomplishments was opening Mountain Heart Cardiovascular Care Center & Sleep Facility in Flagstaff, Ariz. in 2009 to increase healthcare access and reduce morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases in the area.

LaRonda Chastang.Senior Vice President, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion forTrinity Health (Livonia, Mich.).Since joining Trinity Health, Ms.Chastang has deepened the organization's commitment to DEI, health equity and anti-racism through effective and mindful training, process changes, colleague recruitment, retention and development practices, supplier diversity and health equity initiatives. She has built a strong team of DEI leaders who advance initiatives in the system's markets across 27 states. Through her leadership, Trinity Health continues to make strides in its work to end systemic racism and shape a culture of inclusion.

Mary Chatman, RN, PhD. Executive Vice President at Wellstar Health System (Marietta, Ga.). Dr. Chatman's leadership and collaborative work ethic can be seen throughout the health system. She manages a team of more than 10,000 staff members. Dr. Chatman is a seasoned leader with over 30 years of healthcare experience.

Kavelle Christie. Director of Gender Equity and Health Justice at Community Catalyst (Boston). Ms. Christie leads a program that initiates transformative efforts to improve sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal health, and LGBTQ+ healthcare. The program's approach is rooted in a solid commitment to anti-racism, inclusivity and equity, ensuring that the voices and experiences of directly impacted communities stand at the forefront of its advocacy and healthcare policy initiatives. Ms. Christie's responsibilities encompass comprehensive strategic planning that addresses racial inequities in maternal health and champions equitable access to reproductive health and gender-affirming care services. Through extensive research and outreach, she works cross-departmentally and with external state and national partners to deepen legislators' and the public's understanding of healthcare inequities and contribute to policy reform. Under Ms. Christie's leadership, Community Catalyst has achieved significant successes, including establishing a policy development table across six southern states in the U.S., significantly enhancing the understanding of existing and emerging healthcare inequities in the region.

Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President, Chief Nursing Executive and Co-Chair of the Equity and Access Council at NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City). Dr. Cineas is responsible for more than 9,600 nurses and 970 social workers. She plans, oversees and evaluates all aspects of clinical operations, services and nurse education. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Columbia University School of Nursing in New York City.

Keyona Cole. CNO for the Desert Region at Intermountain Health (Salt Lake City). Ms. Cole oversees patient care delivery at George Regional Hospital, Cedar City Hospital and Garfield Memorial Hospital in southwest Utah, along with 125 clinics in the Las Vegas and Utah area. She is committed to the health system's priorities of quality, safety and equity. In her time serving as one of the system's DEI leaders, she was a major partner in creating Intermountain's medical assistant program, which was designed to provide applicants the necessary training they need to pursue a career in healthcare, regardless of their financial situation. This has greatly contributed to the health system's mission to develop and diversify its workforce.

David Tom Cooke, MD. Interim Physician-In-Chief for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and Chief of General Thoracic Surgery for UC Davis Health (Sacramento, Calif.). Dr. Cooke is the interim physician-in-chief for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he oversees cancer clinical operations, leads performance targets and metrics, sets care standards, improves clinical outcomes and disseminates best practices. He is also the founding chief of the general thoracic surgery division at UC Davis Health, where he has made strides in operational efficiency, ambulatory access and outpatient care metrics. His leadership has led to enhanced outcomes in lung cancer treatment, including superior early-stage treatment rates and survival outcomes compared to other American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer centers. Dr. Cooke also serves as the associate director of the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center office of inclusivity, diversity, equity and accessibility. In this role, he directs efforts to diversify the cancer center staff, membership and leadership rosters, and provide equitable and accessible care to all communities. One of his most notable career achievements is the implementation of the Lung Cancer – Lung Nodule Early Detection Clinic, which has improved lung cancer screenings in the region. Dr. Cooke is also a mentor and published researcher.

Takesha J. Cooper, MD. Chief of Psychiatry at Renown Health (Reno, Nev.). With expertise in behavioral health and health equity, Dr. Cooper is the clinical lead for the Stacie Mathewson Behavioral Health & Addiction Institute at Renown Health, where intensive treatment is given to struggling patients. This is especially meaningful given that Nevada ranks last in overall mental health. Dr. Cooper’s research on the impact of adverse childhood experiences on mental health outcomes and her commitment to community-based prevention has been pivotal to addressing need in a state that also posts the highest youth suicide rates. Addressing these dire needs, the Renown Health team convenes area nonprofits, state agencies, service providers, funders and concerned community members in the "Connect Washoe County" collaborative to share data, develop and fund interventions like the "Signs of Suicide" teen peer prevention training program, and measure improvements made in youth behavioral health. She is also chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences for the University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine. Dr. Cooper and her associates train the next generation of psychiatrists through a psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship program. Formerly, Dr. Cooper served as a professor in the department of psychiatry and neurosciences, and as an associate training director for child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine.

Nichola Davis, MD. Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City). Dr. Davis oversees population health efforts at the largest public health system in the U.S., NYC Health + Hospitals, and co-chairs the system's equity and access council. She leads innovative care models, health analytics, chronic disease prevention and management, and social determinants of health at the system. Dr. Davis is board-certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine and spent time as the director of ambulatory medicine at NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx before taking on her current role.

Chyke Doubeni, MD. Chief Health Equity Officer for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Columbus). Dr. Doubeni serves as both chief health equity officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and associate director for DEI at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. He is also a professor in the family and community medicine department. Dr. Doubeni leads the organization's efforts to address the root of healthcare disparities that adversely impact marginalized groups, aiming to foster more equitable care and health outcomes. In collaboration with other leads, he heads all of the medical center's health equity and health community initiatives. During his tenure, he has guided the medical center in its development of a roadmap for health equity, implemented a social determinants of health screening tool in all Ohio State hospitals, and championed the inclusion of sustainability in health equity initiatives. Dr. Doubeni is also deputy director of The Ohio State University Center for Clinical and Translational Science, director of The Ohio State University Center for Health Equity, and a member of the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute board of scientific advisors. In 2023, he was recognized with the CURE Distinguished Scholars Seminars award by Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences.

Arianne Dowdell. Vice President and Chief DEI Officer at Houston Methodist. Ms. Dowdell is responsible for stewarding DEI strategies and developing key DEI partnerships for Houston Methodist. She also focuses on employee engagement and health equity efforts in the area. In addition, she serves as associate director of the Houston Methodist cancer center, where she is focused on improving diversity in cancer care. She has cultivated 10 employee resource groups to over 2,600 employees, established educational learning and programming focused on DEI, started a health equity committee, established data-driven DEI measurements and launched a summer scholars program through the office of DEI.

Tracy Downs, MD. Chief Diversity and Community Engagement Officer at UVA Health (Charlottesville, Va.). Dr. Downs is the inaugural chief diversity and community engagement officer at UVA Health, having joined the system in 2021. Since his arrival, he has worked with the department chairs of every UVA School of Medicine department to factor health equity goals into their annual department goals for the first time. He has spearheaded various initiatives, including establishing DEI improvement benchmarks and securing funding for mobile units that will bring care directly into communities to combat transportation or access issues. Under his leadership, UVA Health has earned several awards, including being named a 2024 Best Large Employers by Forbes and the top hospital in Virginia by US News & World Report in 2023.

Patrick Ebri, PhD. Vice President and Chief Engagement Officer at UNC Health Southeastern (Lumberton, N.C.). At UNC Health Southeastern, Dr. Ebri handles human resources, guest services, engineering and facilities, telecommunications, the gift shop, engagement and culture, pastoral care services, and the learning and professional development department. He is responsible for ensuring high morale and high engagement within the organization. Dr. Ebri brings over 26 years of healthcare executive experience to his role, with a particular focus on hospital operations and human resources. He joined UNC Health Southeastern from Brunswick, Ga.-based Southeast Georgia Health System in 2018.

Olaoluwa Fayanju, MD. Chief Medical Officer of RubiconMD (New York City). Dr. Fayanju is responsible for leading the clinical vision that will help RubiconMD build its suite of virtual care solutions. A staunch advocate for health equity, his career has been devoted to aiding the underserved. Ahead of the 2020 election, he led an initiative to help register patients and colleagues to vote. In 2021, he was invited by the White House to participate in its Health Equity Leaders Roundtable Series.

Claudia Fegan, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Cook County Health (Chicago). Dr. Fegan serves as the lead clinical executive for Cook County Health, a $4 billion safety net health system with various treatment centers, a large network of primary care physicians, specialists and subspecialists, and the healthcare at the Cook County Jail. Dr. Fegan provides executive leadership for all of the system's clinical activities while also practicing internal medicine as a physician, caring for patients directly. In addition, she is the national coordinator for the Physicians for a National Health Program. As an expert in national healthcare policy, she regularly contributes to the media, speaking on the intersection of social justice and healthcare.

Mary "Toni" Flowers, MD. Chief Diversity and Social Responsibility Officer at LCMC Health (New Orleans). Dr. Flowers is a subject matter expert on the topics of diversity, strategy and action planning, health care equity, health and health care disparities, community health, cultural competency, executive coaching, customer and patient experience, and social marketing. She has spent more than two decades focusing on diversity, inclusion, health equity and disparities in healthcare. Most recently, she was the inaugural vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer for Roper St. Francis Healthcare System in Charleston, S.C. She is a member of the executive committee of the American Leadership Council for Diversity in Healthcare and serves as faculty for the Institute for Diversity’s Certificate in Diversity Management Fellowship. She has been nationally recognized by CMS for her excellence in program development and the reduction in health disparities.

Kimberly Foxworth, DNP. CNO of Valley Hospital Medical Center (Las Vegas). Dr. Foxworth is CNO for Valley Hospital Medical Center, part of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services. Her work has significantly contributed to the advancement of patient care, nursing practice and organizational success at the medical center. In her role, she oversees all aspects of nursing operations, provides strategic direction and guidance to nursing staff, fosters innovation and continuous improvement, and implements evidence-based practices to enhance patient safety. The initiatives she puts in place equip the nursing staff with the resources, training and support needed to deliver culturally competent patient care. In addition, she supports staff through coaching and mentoring, empowering them to reach their full potential. She is also on the hospital's board of governors and serves as the nursing quality and operations committee co-chair for the Universal Health Services chief nursing officer council.

Corrinne Francis. Executive Vice President and Chief Mission Integration Officer at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). Ms. Francis leads Trinity Health's mission integration team, a role that entails directing the executive leadership team across 100-plus hospitals. Her work ensures that the mission, vision, and Catholic identity of Trinity Health is integrated into the overall organizational strategy. She implements standards for mission services, sets concrete methods to evaluate their effectiveness, and leads collaborative cross-department initiatives. Ms. Francis actively fosters the development of practical and innovative solutions to help implement programs in diverse communities. She is also a founding member of the nonprofit Medical Professionals On A Mission, which was established in 2018 to bring medical mission response to disasters in the Caribbean.

Stacey Garnett, MSN, RN. Vice President and CNO for Sheppard Pratt (Towson, Md.). Ms. Garnett is vice president and CNO of Sheppard Pratt, a nonprofit mental health services provider. She organizes, plans, directs and evaluates all nursing functions across the organization's hospitals, schools, residential treatment centers and outpatient programs. Leveraging her own 30-plus years of nursing and nursing administration experience, she nurtures and diversifies the next generation of nurses. To this end, she works to create partnerships between Sheppard Pratt and historically black colleges and universities. She also acts as an educator and mentor, encouraging staff, students and mentees to take advantage of educational and professional development opportunities. Recently, she received the Maryland Hospital Association’s Advocacy Champion Award for her role in helping to pass SB 960/HB 611, a bill that ensures adequate hospital staffing in Maryland.

Stacy Garrett-Ray, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Community Impact Officer at Ascension (St. Louis). Since joining Ascension in 2021, Dr. Garrett-Ray has taken responsibility for the health system's strategy to advance health equity at the intersection of clinical services and community partnerships. She also works closely with the Ascension Foundation for Health Equity to help guide the organization's community investments and ensure funding provides value at every stage. The throughline of her work is an earned trust with community stakeholders, built by actively listening, creating customized programs and continuously evaluating performance measures.

Nicole George. Vice President and Associate CNO at Press Ganey (South Bend, Ind.). Ms. George assumed the role of vice president and associate CNO for Press Ganey in March 2024. Prior, she was director of the organization's nursing center of excellence, a role that entailed guiding a team of nurse leaders, directing new growth initiatives with client partners, implementing operational policies, and providing expert guidance to CNOs and nurse leaders across the nation and globe. As part of her role, she travels the U.S. to speak with leaders and gain real-time perspective about the challenges faced in nursing today. She is currently pursuing a PhD in nursing, directing her focus on the nursing workforce and particularly the experience of millennial nurse leaders in acute care settings. Ms. George is a board certified nurse executive and has been serving as a nurse for 15 years.

Wendi Goodson-Celerin, DNP. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive at Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital. Dr. Goodson-Celerin leads all nursing services across Tampa General Hospital, with a focus on further developing cross-functional collaboration among nursing teams throughout the hospital and systemwide. As a former clinical nurse who has grown through her entire career at TGH, she has key knowledge of the system's nursing workflows and service lines, informing her strategic approach to leadership. She spearheads the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognition program, a prestigious designation Tampa General has achieved four times since 2005, and also oversees compliance with accrediting bodies and regulatory groups systemwide. Throughout her more than 35 years with the hospital, Dr. Goodson-Celerin has worked to strengthen Tampa General's nursing team and has helped decrease vacancy rates for nursing departments to under 10%.

Kristen Gradney. Chief Wellness Officer at LCMC Health (New Orleans). Ms. Gradney is responsible for overseeing the design, direction and implementation of a wellness program that addresses the current environment of burnout among clinicians, health professionals and staff, as well as the overall health and wellbeing of LCMC Health employees. She facilitates systemwide changes that enable all LCMC Health employees to work in a culture that prioritizes professional fulfillment and optimizes the function of the health system. She joins LCMC Health from Baton Rouge, La.-based Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, where she has held multiple roles since 2013, most recently as the senior director of operations. In that role, she was responsible for the strategic planning, operations and population health programming for regional children’s health, including general pediatrics, specialty practices and health care operations for East Baton Rouge Parish school system and charter schools.

Chere Gregory, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Dr. Gregory leads health equity through strategic and targeted programs across Novant Health’s footprint in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. She is a key advocate for women’s health and a community medicine approach to meeting women’s needs. Dr. Gregory is co-founder of the Maya Angelou Women’s Health and Wellness Center at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, a first-of-its-kind program in the region for women’s comprehensive health and wellness services. She is also a key architect and leader of Novant Health’s corporate, long-term goal of mammography for all. In 2021, the system successfully achieved or surpassed each of its three organizational goals, particularly in the Asian and Latina/Hispanic communities, where screening rates were previously lowest. The overall population achieved the target screening rate of 76%, which was in line with the established goal. The Asian population screening rate was 71%, aligning exactly with the specific goal, and the Latina/Hispanic population exceeded expectations, reaching a 73% screening rate, which surpassed the goal of 72%.

Deborah Grimes, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Ochsner Health (New Orleans). Ms. Grimes plays a leading role in Ochsner's workforce and employee strategy. She is responsible for developing policies and practices that promote focused attention to diversity and inclusion matters including recruitment, retention, workforce planning and career development. She also works within and across the communities Ochsner serves to emphasize the need to reduce disparate health outcomes and improve healthcare equity for all Ochsner patients. She has driven DEI efforts since joining the system in 2020, building regional teams and developing global and local opportunities to connect with the diverse communities it serves.

Timothy Groover, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Baptist Health (Jacksonville, Fla.). Dr. Groover oversees the full scope of physician practice across the only nonprofit, locally governed health system in Northeast Florida. In 2014, Dr. Groover became the first African American physician to be elected to the board of directors of Baptist Health, the largest private health system in Jacksonville, Fla. During his 25-year tenure as a physician leader at Baptist Health, he has served in many leadership roles, including chief of staff of Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, chief of the department of anesthesiology, medical board and executive committee chair.

Jason Hall, MD. Surgeon-in-Chief and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Tufts Medical Center (Boston). Dr. Hall oversees all surgical operations across the hospital, ensuring access to surgical providers across disciplines, collaborating with hospital administration to optimize operating room efficiency, and fostering growth within surgical departments across the Tufts Medicine system. He also oversees day-to-day functions while spearheading the expansion of clinical and research initiatives at the health system. Under Dr. Hall’s stewardship, the number of operations and procedures conducted in the operating room has increased significantly. Notably, he has improved the institution's on-time performance rating from 30 to 60.

Toi Harris, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston). Dr. Harris integrates equity, diversity and inclusion into every aspect of Memorial Hermann Health System's operations to enhance patient care, employee relations and community engagement. As the executive director of the Memorial Hermann Institute for Advancing Health Equity, established in July 2023, Dr. Harris and her team address health disparities through focused research and collaboration. She has an extensive background in psychiatry, which she has used to create educational programs and partner with local groups to address disparities, particularly in historically underserved populations. Since joining Hermann, she has integrated DEI into the system's core strategies and operations, actively driven diversity initiatives in the community, launched community initiatives to engage others, developed and implemented policies to promote inclusivity, created leadership and accountability frameworks, and more.

Nicole Harris-Hollingsworth, EdD. Vice President of Social Determinants of Health at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth leads networkwide initiatives to address social determinants of health and equity of care across Hackensack Meridian Health. Led by Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth, the HMH Healthy Connections strategy works to connect those in need with resources, including the provision of transportation, food and caregiving services. Dr. Harris-Hollingsworth uses her more than 20 years of health policy experience to lead the development and implementation of a networkwide strategy, stakeholder engagement interventions and community-accessible resources. Her work at HMH is also a springboard to improve health conditions beyond the network’s patient population.

Mandy Hayes-Chandler. Regional General Counsel for Oklahoma and Mid-Missouri at SSM Health (St. Louis). Ms. Hayes-Chandler is responsible for managing all regional issues related to hospital and medical group operations, supervising legal staff, overseeing regional mergers and acquisitions, and managing the use of external legal counsel. In addition to her regional responsibilities, she is responsible for a number of SSM Health system-level responsibilities including but not limited to managing attorney-client privileged internal audits and serving as lead counsel for all fraud and abuse matters systemwide. She began her career with SSM Health in 2001, stepping into the role of incident command lead for the Oklahoma region in 2020 during the pandemic.

David C. Henderson, MD. Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Boston Medical Center and Co-Director of The Africa Global Mental Health Institute. Dr. Henderson has led Boston Medical Center’s extensive behavioral health programming since 2015, improving access and health equity in greater Boston and across the globe. He also serves as professor and chair of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. In addition, he is co-director of the National Institute of Mental Health's global mental health clinical research fellowship through the school of medicine and Boston-bed Massachusetts General Hospital. Globally, Dr. Henderson has built partnerships among Boston Medical Center’s psychiatry department and providers across the African diaspora as a co-director of the Africa Global Mental Health Institute, which has equipped mental health professionals in more than 25 countries with the tools and agency to effectively care for people with mental illnesses. Additionally, he has conducted research and training programs in Bosnia, Cambodia, East Timor, Ethiopia, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Peru, South Africa, Somaliland and other countries. He has served as a distinguished fellow for the American Psychiatric Association since 2006.

Michelle D. Hereford, RN. Senior Vice President, System Chief Nurse Executive; Ethel Morikis Endowed Chair in Nursing Leadership at University Hospitals (Cleveland). Ms. Hereford is an accomplished and dedicated senior healthcare executive with over 20 years of expertise developing and leading operational improvements in nonprofit, investor-owned, academic and faith-based healthcare organizations. In April 2021, Ms. Hereford assumed the role of senior vice president and system chief nurse executive for University Hospitals, a comprehensive health system with annual revenues of $5.3 billion, over 30,000 employees, more than 20 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and over 200 physician offices located throughout 16 counties.

Everette Jackson, DNP, RN. Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Reeves County Hospital District (Pecos, Texas). Dr. Jackson was appointed to his current role at Reeves County Hospital District in January 2022, after serving as director of nursing for two years. He has spearheaded the development of suicide prevention practices, and while he was a doctorate student he implemented a unified approach to mental health and suicide prevention in his community. In his current role, his focus includes expanding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within rural communities.

Vincent E. Jackson, PharmD. Chief Pharmacy Officer at Advocate Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Dr. Jackson has served as the chief pharmacy officer at Advocate Health since 2023, a continuation of his position as CPO of Advocate-Aurora Health in 2021. Before serving in his current role, he was the vice president of pharmacy service group at HealthTrust Performance Group as well as working for Marriottsville, Md.-based Bon Secours as its vice president of pharmacy and clinical services. He has over 25 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceuticals field, and now leads pharmacy operations for a 67-hospital strong health system with over 5,000 pharmacy employees. As CPO at Advocate, he boasts an 89% satisfaction rate among patients who used pharmacy services. As Advocate's pharmacy leader, Dr. Jackson oversees the effective collaboration between the pharmacies within the system, as well as proper communication between medical, supply chain, and finance staff.

Thea James, MD. Vice President of Mission and Associate Chief Medical Officer of Boston Medical Center. In addition to leadership positions at Boston Medical Center, Dr. James serves as an associate professor of emergency medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. James is the executive director of the Health Equity Accelerator, an initiative to eliminate the race-based health equity gap that exists throughout the healthcare industry in the nation. She is also the founder and director of the system's Massachusetts Violence Intervention Advocacy Program branch, which assists victims of violence in their trauma recovery.

Daniel Joiner. Chief Diversity and Community Impact Officer at UnityPoint Health (West Des Moines, Iowa). Mr. Joiner provides education and cultural awareness training for UnityPoint's 30,000 team members. He is UnityPoint Health’s first ever chief diversity officer, and his work includes developing strategy and programming to address health equity and health care disparities within the communities the system serves. He also leads the organization’s health equity efforts and has prioritized establishing a supplier diversity program designed to provide minority-owned, woman-owned, disadvantaged business enterprise, LGBTQ+-owned or Veteran-owned vendors equal access to procurement opportunities. The program drives economic impact and provides certified diverse businesses with opportunities to participate as partners and suppliers of goods and services. The initiative has more than doubled the number of diverse suppliers and increased spend by nearly $250,000 in the first year. When a law in Iowa banned gender-affirming care for minors, Mr. Joiner led a multidisciplinary group of clinicians, consultants, and marketing and communications professionals across UnityPoint Health to provide information and support to key stakeholder groups. Under his leadership, UnityPoint has established a career pathway partnership with Bank of America, established a DEI employee resource group, worked with UnityPoint's data analytics team to create after-visit summaries in different languages, launched a DEI action committee and more.

Dawndra Jones, DNP, RN. Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital (Pittsburgh). Dr. Jones serves as vice president, patient care services and chief nursing officer for UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. She is tasked with guiding, upholding and modeling a service-focused culture of employee engagement, quality, patient safety, service excellence, fiscal responsibility and the patient journey. Previously, she served as the chief nursing officer at UPMC East and UPMC McKeesport.

Lashonda Jones. CNO for Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital (Miami). Ms. Jones is responsible for building upon the major nursing improvements already taking place at Jackson Behavioral Health Hospital and Jackson Community Mental Health. Since joining Jackson five years ago, she has held various nursing leadership roles, most recently serving as associate CNO for clinical operations. She led many successful initiatives, including the development of two early recovery after-surgery programs and the opening of the discharge call center. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Jones was instrumental in the development of the decision support center, which served as Jackson Memorial’s communication hub for managing everything related to Covid care.

Shannon Brown Joseph. National Director of Nursing Workforce Pipeline at Ascension (St. Louis). In Ms. Joseph's role, she is responsible for finding solutions to workforce needs through collaboration. She developed a strategic workforce development plan for a systemwide rollout to educate, train and place more than 1,000 new hires to date. Ms. Joseph also plans national efforts to increase skills in nursing and the nursing support workforce across 22 states and the entire organization.

Vasco Deon Kidd, DHSc. Director of Advanced Practice Providers at UCI Health (Orange, Calif.). Dr. Kidd is responsible for all facets of care delivery provided by 240 advanced practice providers at UCI Health, including program advocacy, outreach, regulatory compliance, credentialing, care team redesign and business case development. He directs the evaluation and monitoring of advanced practice provider utilization and serves as a single point of contact for related matters. In addition, he helped spearhead top-of-license practice initiatives that nearly doubled clinical revenue in one year. Dr. Kidd has published 39 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, and is a leading researcher on advanced practice provider post-graduate programs and the optimization of advanced practice providers. He is also an associate clinical professor in the department of orthopedic surgery at UC Irvine.

Armond Kinsey. Vice President and Chief Talent and Diversity Officer for Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.). Mr. Kinsey serves as vice president, chief talent and diversity officer for Atlantic Health System, helping to form an inclusive and diverse experience for the system's 20,000 team members. He has been responsible for creating powerful support resources, microlearning sessions, business resource groups, and various initiatives aimed at reducing healthcare disparities. One of his chief accomplishments has been aiding the marketing and communications team in increasing care access for non-English speaking communities via an interpreter program and a translation of the system's website. Thanks in large part to his leadership, the system earned a place on Newsweek’s list of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity in 2023.

David Kountz, MD. Chief Academic Officer and Vice President for Academic Diversity at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Dr. Kountz aligns diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives between Hackensack Meridian Health and the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. His work aims to drive meaningful and effective policy changes to enhance diversity and, as a result, increase excellence and innovation. Dr. Kountz advances the health system's academic mission through residencies, fellowships, publications and grants. He was instrumental to the establishment of nine new fellowships at Jersey Shore University Medical Center. He balances research and educational responsibilities with a focus on areas of interest, like pipeline programs for underrepresented students. In addition, he serves in numerous statewide and national leadership positions, including co-chair of the National Minority Health Alliance, a nonprofit addressing health disparities in underserved populations.

Yvens Laborde, MD. Chief Community Medical Officer at Ochsner Health (New Orleans). Dr. Laborde is responsible for driving Ochsner’s comprehensive community strategy to promote health equity and further align Ochsner’s efforts with its Healthy State initiatives. He works with community outreach and community health partners to develop and implement programs focused on improving health and wellness in its communities. In addition, he oversees the education of medical students, residents and beyond by developing and integrating education on diversity, health equity, culturally aware care, and social drivers of health and wellness. He first joined the system in 1995 as an internal medicine physician, and has been instrumental in community and global health efforts. Most recently, he served as the medical director of global and community health and led local, regional and global efforts focused on improving health outcomes around the world.

Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD. Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Allegheny Health Network (Pittsburgh). Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew advances diversity and inclusion among clinical and caregiving staff members while also advocating for equitable health outcomes. She has dedicated her career to building programs that focus on promoting equity for vulnerable patients and mitigating sociopolitical barriers to care. Dr. Larkins-Pettigrew lectures frequently, regionally and internationally, on health issues relating to the wellness of women and strategies that advance diversity, equity and inclusion in healthcare. She is also the author of “The Colors of My Heart: Embracing My Blackness with History, Family, Fear and Faith,” a recently published autobiography.

Christopher Lathan, MD. Chief Clinical Access and Equity Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston). As the founding faculty director of Dana-Farber’s Cancer Care Equity Program, Dr. Lathan leads the program’s efforts to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes for historically marginalized groups in the Greater Boston area and to become a national model for translating cancer equity research into interventions. He aims to bridge the gap between research efforts in disparities and the realities of patient care by increasing access to high-quality care, developed in part through community engagement. Dr. Lathan also leads research centered on the effects of race, class and access to care in cancer outcomes, including racial disparities in lung cancer treatment, differences in access to precision medicine by race and social class, and equitable distribution of new treatment across historically marginalized populations. He is a medical oncologist specializing in lung cancer and is associate medical director of Dana-Farber’s regional campuses.

Donna Lawson. Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety at Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.). In her role as vice president of quality and patient safety at Atlantic Health System, Ms. Lawson ensures excellent patient experiences and high-quality care. After joining the system, she helped implement high-reliability organization processes and structures, including team member training, safety coaches, and a reward and recognition program. Her efforts have resulted in a reduction of safety events for the system. She also guided Atlantic Health System expertly through the pandemic, drafting playbooks that served as examples for other New Jersey health systems. Ms. Lawson is involved in the system's community outreach initiatives, including the African American Wellness Coalition and the annual Community Health Day activities.

H. Christopher Lawson, MD. Chief of Neurosurgery at Reading Hospital–Tower Health (West Reading, Pa.). In this role Dr. Lawson provides medical leadership, oversight and strategic planning for the neurosurgery division at Reading Hospital, ensuring that the neurosurgery team is able to meet the needs of the hospital and the community. He collaborates with all specialties to assure that Reading Hospital maintains the high level of outcomes that have earned recognition from both The Joint Commission and American Heart Association. He also serves as a member of the surgical advisory committee and the surgical value analysis committee. Shortly after his arrival at Reading Hospital, Dr. Lawson developed the deep brain stimulation program for movement disorders, in partnership with physician colleagues in the neurology department. Prior to the start of the program, community members had to travel outside of Berks County for this life-changing treatment. He also serves as an assistant professor of neurological surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Yolanda Lawson, MD. Executive Medical Director for Maternal and Infant Health at Health Care Service Corporation (Chicago). Dr. Lawson is responsible for developing and leading initiatives in HCSC'S five-state divisions. She came to HCSC with 20 years of obstetrics and gynecology clinical practice expertise, along with healthcare leadership experience in operations, quality and health equity. Dr. Lawson was named by BlackDoctors.org as among the 2024 Top Blacks in Healthcare and also currently serves as president of the National Medical Association, the largest and oldest national organization representing Black physicians and their patients. She also lends her expertise and business acumen to hospital, recovery center, city and healthcare leadership boards and has been a physician at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas since 2002.

Dawnette Lewis, MD. Director of the Center for Maternal Health at Northwell Health (New Hyde Park N.Y.). Dr. Lewis directs Northwell Health's maternal health center, aiming to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality rates, particularly among Black women. The hospital's holistic approach addresses health conditions that can occur from preconception through the first year after delivery. It also takes into account the social determinants that raise the risk of complications. One of Dr. Lewis's key initiatives tackles institutional and structural racism via the implementation of unconscious and implicit bias training for all Northwell Health team members. The center, launched in April 2022, is working in partnership with Northwell’s Inclusion Academy to incorporate education and content about equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging into current organizational developmental programs by 2025. Her team is also continuously working to provide services ranging from simplified appointment scheduling to lactation advice to connections with urgent telebehavioral health services. Most recently, Dr. Lewis oversaw the rollout of an AI-based chatbot that will allow mothers to get answers to their questions via frequent automated conversations.

Gary Little, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Atrium Health (Charlotte, N.C.). In his role, Dr. Little spearheads efforts to enhance care quality, ensure patient safety, foster physician engagement and improve clinical operations and integration within Atrium Health. His responsibilities encompass oversight of Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center as well as Atrium Health Union West, the first new hospital in Charlotte in over three decades. Under his leadership, the health system set two objectives to analyze health outcomes for African American patients with diabetes: enhance the management of blood glucose and blood pressure. Within the first year of its execution, Atrium Health achieved top quartile performance in managing blood glucose and blood pressure levels in African American patients, significantly reducing disparities in diabetes care outcomes. Dr. Little also serves as vice chair of One Charlotte Health Alliance and vice chair of the Medic Mecklenburg EMS Agency, playing a significant role in overseeing emergency medical services.

Kathy Lloyd. Associate Vice President of Community Medicine and ConvenientCare at Geisinger (Danville, Pa.). Ms. Lloyd oversees Geisinger’s urgent care and community-based clinics, which are strategically designed to help patients manage their total health and avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits. She administers Geisinger’s 16 primary care and multispecialty clinics and 23 ConvenientCare sites, many of which provide urgent care, laboratory services and imaging capabilities in one location. As a veteran of the U.S. Navy, Ms. Lloyd was able to quickly mobilize her teams at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and strategize plans to establish Covid testing sites. She later spearheaded efforts to convert some of the ConvenientCare locations to focus solely on respiratory virus symptoms, thereby limiting patient and employee exposure to Covid. Ms. Lloyd was instrumental in bringing a new 32,000-square-foot primary care facility to a rural part of northeastern Pennsylvania last year. The clinic expanded medical services that were previously lacking in the community while providing primary care, women’s health, pharmacy, laboratory and imaging services.

C.J. Marbley, RN. COO and Chief Nursing Officer at New Orleans East Hospital. Mr. Marbley’s role entails providing direction, leadership and management for nursing and patient care services. Prior to joining the hospital, he held a number of administrative and clinical roles across the LCMC health systems and the Heart Hospital in New Orleans. Before joining the hospital, he had accrued 23 years of healthcare experience in the Washington, D.C. area.

Kelly McCants, MD. Executive Director of Norton Heart & Vascular Institute Advanced Heart Failure and Recovery Program for Norton Healthcare (Louisville, Ky.). Dr. McCants has been a key player in the launch of several Norton Heart & Vascular Institute initiatives, including leading a team to DNV certification for the first accredited left ventricular assist device program in Norton Healthcare’s history. The program is responsible for more than 15 life-sustaining mechanical circulatory support implants. Under the leadership of Dr. McCants, the Heart Failure and Recovery Program has recovery rates higher than the national average. His medical specialty in advanced cardiac care has led to a shared care program that facilitates transplant services through a partner institution. His passion for health equity and desire to improve health outcomes in traditionally underserved communities has grown into partnerships with large faith-based organizations and churches. He has received numerous awards, including the Trustees of Inclusion Equity Award, the McDaniel Bluitt Hope Award, and the Louisville Business First Healthcare Heroes Health Equity Champion award.

Peter McCauley, MD. Corporate Medical Officer of Cigna (Bloomfield, Conn.). Dr. McCauley joined Cigna in 2010 as a market medical executive for the Midwest and was promoted to regional medical executive overseeing 25 states in 2013. Dr. McCauley then became corporate medical officer of Cigna, responsible for the organization's more than 700 value-based relationships and 250 ACO arrangements. He has a particular interest in promoting health equity and value-based care. Dr. McCauley was medical director of Gottlieb/West Towns PHO in Melrose Park, Ill., prior to joining Cigna.

Stonewall McCuiston, Jr., MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Riverside Healthcare (Kankakee, Ill.). Dr. McCuiston oversees the Riverside Medical Group providers, which includes a variety of specialties and primary care providers. He serves as the medical director of resource and care management at Riverside Medical Center, while also leading the 130 providers who make up the Riverside Medical Group. He was appointed to his current role at the tail end of 2022. He works closely with the care management team to improve Riverside Medical Center’s length of stay index and decrease readmission rates. Dr. McCuiston was one of the first providers to join Riverside Medical Group and has been a part of the group since 1985.

Le Joyce Naylor. Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Wellstar Health System (Marietta, Ga.). Ms. Naylor offers systemwide thought leadership, strategic thinking and program direction for Wellstar Health System's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Her responsibilities include the design and implementation of programs to advance diversity efforts, achieving measurable outcomes and leading the health system's diversity and inclusion advisory council. Among her many accomplishments are the formation of 11 business resource groups, the recalibration of 11 diversity and inclusion councils, and the engagement of team members in inclusive virtual and in-person conversations about everyday topics.

Meika Tylese Neblett, MD. Chief Medical Officer, Chief Quality Officer and Chief Academic Officer at RWJBarnabas Health Community Medical Center (Toms River, N.J.). Dr. Neblett has strategic, operational and clinical oversight of the largest and most active healthcare facility in Ocean County, N.J. She takes a hands-on approach to managing the hospital's departments, protocols and policies while ensuring that staff adhere to safety standards to deliver the highest quality of medical care. A seasoned physician administrator, Dr. Neblett also works within patient care teams alongside the facility's specialty clinicians and other members of the emergency department staff to ensure the delivery of acute and life-saving care. Under her leadership, Community Medical Center was awarded all three Women's Care Excellence Awards from Healthgrades. She is also a clinical associate professor in the department of emergency medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Jeanne Nizigiyimana. Director of the Valleywise Health Center for Refugee and Global Health at Valleywise Health (Phoenix, Ariz.). Ms. Nizigiyimana directs the Valleywise refugee center, which provides a unique model that employs 18 cultural health navigators hired from their respective refugee communities, ensuring a seamless transition for Arizona’s refugee populations as they navigate the healthcare system. She founded the center in 2008 to provide a culturally grounded, patient-centered medical home for the growing refugee community. RWHC is the only center of its kind in the nation, providing obstetric and gynecological care to thousands of refugee women. Ms. Nizigiyimana designed a multifaceted program emphasizing intensive case management, continuity of care and linguistically-appropriate health navigation, with additional services such as educational classes, counseling and community outreach. These efforts have made the RWHC a safe haven for many refugee women seeking medical care for themselves and their families. In 2023, the center saw 16,000 refugee patients, delivered over 3,700 babies, installed over 1,200 car seats for new mothers and reached 800 patients through health literacy courses. Ms. Nizigiyimana, along with her husband and two children, are the first four refugees in Arizona from Burundi, a small war-torn country in central Africa. They resettled in 1998 after fleeing the Civil War. Since then, she has worked to advocate for and successfully integrate other refugees into the U.S.

Felicia Norwood. Executive Vice President at Elevance Health and President of Government Health Benefits Division, Elevance Health (Indianapolis). Ms. Norwood is responsible for the strategic direction and all operations related to the company's Medicaid and Medicare businesses, serving more than 13 million beneficiaries across the U.S. Harnessing her more than 30 years of healthcare management experience, Ms. Norwood led 21 of Elevance Health's affiliated Medicaid plans to become the first in the nation to earn a full three-year accreditation for Health Equity and Health Equity Plus from the National Committee for Quality Assurance. In February, she led organizational Black History Month commentary and will be featured on Savoy's upcoming 2024 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America list this year. She also currently serves on the board of directors of Wells Fargo. Prior to her current role, she served as the director of Illinois' Department of Healthcare and Family Services.

Roderick Nunn. Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at SSM Health (St. Louis). Mr. Nunn drives systemwide workforce, workplace and marketplace DEI initiatives in service of the organization’s mission. This includes a comprehensive DEI learning and development portfolio, talent recruitment and retention initiatives, community partnerships, DEI-focused internships and fellowships, and oversight of system, regional and local DEI governance councils and business resource groups. He has been instrumental in SSM Health’s development and implementation of novel DEI initiatives, including equity reviews that glean insights into talent processes and programs to examine the experiences of diverse team members. He is also leading SSM Health’s efforts to cultivate the next generation of health care workers. This includes partnering with racially and ethnically diverse professional organizations and academic institutions to develop fellowship and other training programs. He has over 20 years of experience in workforce engagement and development.

Pam Oliver, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Dr. Oliver is the executive vice president and chief medical officer, providing strategic, clinical and cultural leadership. Dr. Oliver also provides leadership and strategic direction for health equity efforts and the work of Novant Health institutes or services lines, across the enterprise. She is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and has been practicing at Novant Health WomanCare since 2005.

Stella Onuoha-Obilor, DrPH, MD, RN. Vice President of Clinical Quality and Population Health at Highmark Health (Pittsburgh). Dr. Onuoha-Obilor serves as Highmark Health's vice president of clinical quality and population health. She takes ownership of the hybrid clinical quality strategy, which includes both structural and virtual integration models. She works to standardize, track and improve quality outcome measurements such as provider satisfaction and demonstrated value improvement. In addition, she works with the medical policy leadership team to ensure medical policy for all products aligns with regulatory requirements. Dr. Onuoha-Obilor also leads health plan quality operations and works with the clinical engagement team to increase engagement, formulate new outreach efforts and close gaps in care. Her work, in collaboration with the clinical leadership team, has resulted in reduced drug abuse and overuse, while also boosting underuse. She has dedicated more than 20 years to population health and clinical quality.

Sybil Pentsil, MD. Chief Diversity Officer at LifeBridge Health (Baltimore, Md.). Dr. Pentsil is LifeBridge's first ever chief diversity officer, overseeing efforts to grow resources around justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. She is guided by the idea that for LifeBridge to excel as an organization, all patients and members have to feel empowered. She works with LifeBridge Health leaders to develop strategies to further enhance diversity, equity and inclusion within the system and incorporate this goal into provider-patient relations. She also helped the system to launch a specialized primary care clinic for the LGBTQIA+ community, earning LifeBridge a recognition from the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In addition to her systemwide roles, she is the program director for the pediatrics residency program at Sinai Hospital, leading the program in diversity, inclusion and mentorship intentionality as they help mold and set career trajectories for the next generation of physicians. She is also an active member of several diversity councils, raising awareness across the state for DEI initiatives. Dr. Pentsil's career spans public health, inpatient pediatrics, global health work, medical education and DEI work.

Vanessa Peters-Kinzy. Vice President of Clinical Operations, Community Hospital Division at ScionHealth (Louisville, Ky.). Ms. Peters-Kinzy is responsible for ensuring quality outcomes, supporting operational excellence and developing CNOs for the community hospital division of ScionHealth, which spans 16 hospitals. Since the company's establishment in 2021, she has helped drive the launch of an enterprisewide national quality program and spearheaded the collection of baseline data through a Press Ganey survey conducted in 2023. Now, she and her team are working with leadership at each hospital to integrate the core components of the quality program and improve key quality metrics. Ms. Peters-Kinzy also leads two employee resource groups for ScionHealth, one for female employees and the other for Black employees. She is also a member and representative for ScionHealth Community Hospital joint venture facilities in Georgia, Wisconsin, and Alabama.

James Poullard. Senior Vice President of Support Services, Health Equity and Experience at ScionHealth (Louisville, Ky.). Mr. Poullard's duties at ScionHealth include oversight and operational, quality, and financial strategy execution of all enterprise ancillary clinical support services for the organization's 76 acute care hospitals and 18 community hospitals across 28 states. Additionally, he leads the organization's health equity and patient experience strategies. Mr. Poullard is a leadership member of the employee resource group for Black employees and allies.

O'Neal Pyke, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Jackson North Medical Center (Miami). Dr. Pyke oversees daily operations at Jackson North. He has over 20 years of experience working in diverse patient environments as a physician. He is a board-certified internal medicine physician who served patients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, helping people to recover from the virus during a trying and stressful time.

Camille Ragin, PhD. Associate Director of DEI at Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia). Since 2022, Dr. Ragin has served as associate director of DEI at Fox Chase Cancer Center, where she enhances hiring practices, facilitates more diverse leadership at all levels, and provides training and education on race-related issues. Additionally, she aids collaboration across Temple University Health System on issues of diversity and inclusion. A thought leader that draws career inspiration from her Jamaican roots, family and professional experiences, she has dedicated her scientific research career to understanding why Black patients have the highest incidence, highest death rates and shortest survival for most cancers out of all racial and ethnic groups. Dr. Ragin has historically built diverse teams to tackle complex issues, having founded the African-Caribbean Cancer Consortium and the Cancer Prevention Project of Philadelphia. She is a co-principal investigator for the African-Caribbean scNetwork, co- investigator for Specialized Program of Research Excellence in head and neck cancers, and also collaborates with the Mayor’s Commission on African and Caribbean Immigrant Affairs, the Caribbean Community of Philadelphia, the African Family Health Organization, the Coalition of African and Caribbean Communities, Philadelphia and many others.

Chevon Rariy, MD. Chief Health Officer and Senior Vice President of Digital Health at Oncology Care Partners (Nashville, Tenn.). In her role, Dr. Rariy oversees the design of oncology delivery systems for both virtual and in-person care models. She is an endocrinologist, investor, keynote speaker and author with more than 15 years of healthcare leadership experience. In 2023, she spoke at The White House in a roundtable discussion with the Institute for Education about the dynamic convergence of technology, biology and AI shaping the future of healthcare and advocacy. She is the co-founder of Equity in STEMM, Innovation & AI, through which she partners with other industry leaders to amplify the potential of underrepresented communities to advance equity and progress in healthcare. Her efforts have led to a projected 27% increase in annual recurring revenue and an expansion of services into two additional markets.

Avonia Richardson-Miller, EdD. Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). Dr. Richardson-Miller has networkwide oversight of the diversity, equity and inclusion department's strategic initiatives and daily operations. She has conducted the health system's first benchmark diversity assessment, reviewing efforts across workforce, recruitment, talent management programs, supplier diversity, philanthropy and leadership accountability. In addition, she spearheaded processes and project improvements for the Human Equality Index survey, launched new team member resource groups and created a blueprint for advancing diversity initiatives across the network.

Carlos Roberts, MD. Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Women’s and Children Service Line at WellSpan Health (York, Pa.). Dr. Roberts oversees WellSpan’s partnerships aimed at decreasing health disparity and improving health equity. He also actively treats patients out of WellSpan Health's Apple Hill campus. In 2023, under his leadership, WellSpan focused on closing the disparity gap for breast cancer screening between white, non-Hispanic women and Hispanic and black women. Since then, breast cancer screening rates for Hispanic women have risen at WellSpan from 69% to 77%. As system director of robotics, Dr. Roberts was also instrumental in WellSpan York Hospital becoming the first center of excellence for robotic surgery in Pennsylvania.

Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney. Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Buffalo, N.Y.). Ms. Rodriguez-Dabney joined the senior leadership team at the 125-year-old Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center last year, continuing a two-decade career path in public service. The U.S. Navy veteran leads an independent department which, in partnership with teams across the workforce, drives initiatives to ensure a culture of belonging and opportunity for employees and the broader community. Her past leadership roles include serving as the City of Buffalo’s first chief diversity officer and as deputy mayor, during which time she played a central role in the response to the 2022 racially-targeted mass shooting at a grocery store. She also served as chief diversity officer and chief of staff to the president of SUNY Buffalo State University.

Jillian Rose-Smith, PhD. Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer at Hospital for Special Surgery (New York City). In her role as vice president and chief health equity officer for HSS, Dr. Rose-Smith provides operational leadership for access to care and leads diversity, equity and Inclusion projects. Her responsibilities include developing and implementing strategies to ensure healthcare accessibility for all individuals, addressing social determinants impacting patient care, and promoting a diverse and inclusive healthcare environment. In 2022, she launched the Office of Health Equity at HSS, which focuses on enhancing access to world-class orthopedic and rheumatology care, identifying and addressing disparities through measurement, data stratification and research, and community partnership and advocacy. Her leadership in health equity has been acknowledged by Diversity Global magazine as one of the top 15 global champions of diversity.

Ronald Ryan, MD. Medical Director at Rosen Medical Center (Orlando). Dr. Ryan is responsible for overseeing all clinical aspects of Rosen Medical Center, including leadership of the physicians and advanced practice practitioners. Dr. Ryan acts as the primary medical authority and clinical liaison between the hotel’s C-suite, third-party businesses, insurance payers and the medical care providers for the associates and their families. He works closely with the director of health services to explore the latest innovations in healthcare and to implement projects that are deemed suitable for the center’s diverse patient population. Dr. Ryan is also actively involved in providing direct patient care on a day-to-day basis. He established the center's values of integrity, compassion, excellence, respect, teamwork, innovation and stewardship. He first joined Rosen in 2012 after serving as associate medical director at Hospice of the Comforter. He was called into the field after realizing that there was a lack of physicians that looked like him to care for patients.

Neema Stephens, MD. National Medical Director for Health Equity at The Cigna Group (Bloomfield, Conn.). In her role, Dr. Stephens is responsible for developing and executing Cigna's health equity strategy, with the goal of reducing health disparities and improving outcomes. She is also a leader of the company's DEI council and health equity committee. In 2021, Dr. Stephens leveraged her more than 20 years of healthcare experience, including her time spent caring for patients as a nephrologist, to spearhead the creation of the health equity advocate leadership program, designed to educate and equip senior leaders with the skills needed to embed health equity into their business units. With her guidance, program participants developed 25% of Cigna's health equity initiatives that year. The program's success has led to the further incorporation of health equity measures across all of Cigna.

Nikki Sumpter. Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Atlantic Health System (Morristown, N.J.). Ms. Sumpter's role as executive vice president and chief administrative officer entails overseeing the wellbeing and development of Atlantic Health System's 20,000- member workforce. She shapes and maintains the culture while ensuring team member satisfaction via comprehensive benefits and programs. She also directly oversees the organization's diversity, inclusion and social responsibility efforts, centering these priorities in recruitment, retention and training. Ms. Sumpter also helms efforts to combat climate change, reduce waste and improve sustainability as part of Atlantic Health's expanded focus on environmental, social and governance work. Atlantic Health also committed to pursuing the Biden Administration’s goals of reducing greenhouse emissions by 50% and ultimately reaching net zero by 2050. Under her leadership, the system is one of very few U.S. health systems to earn Practice Greenhealth's System for Change Award for environmental sustainability. The system has also been named one of Fortune's 100 Best Workplaces for 14 consecutive years, in large part due to Ms. Sumpter's efforts to craft a fulfilling and equitable workplace.

Kara Odom Walker, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer at Nemours Children's Health (Jacksonville, Fla.). Dr. Walker leads all strategy, policy, advocacy, research, innovation and implementation related to population health at Nemours Children's. She is a member of the organization’s executive cabinet and a practicing family physician focused on the intersection of health and social drivers. She led the 2022 creation of the philanthropically-funded Ginsburg Institute for Health Equity at Nemours, which fosters pediatric health equity research. She also led the health system's creation of the Whole Child Health Alliance, now with 17 national and local organizational members. The alliance helps advance models promoting children’s optimal health, development and wellbeing and improves health equity through delivery and payment reforms. She previously served as secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Human Services.

Patrice Walker, MD. Chief Medical Officer at Atrium Health Navicent (Macon, Ga.). Dr. Walker was appointed as the organization's first African American, female chief medical officer in 2019. In addition to ensuring the best care for patients, she aims to improve communication between medical staff and administration. Formerly a practicing OB GYN, Dr. Walker serves today as the chief medical officer and a senior vice president at Atrium Health Navicent where she continues to advocate for diversity and inclusion and contributes to the education and professional development of staff, medical students and residents.

Ginell Walker-Way, BSN. CNO at Chilton Medical Center (Pompton Plains, N.J.). Ms. Walker-Way joined Atlantic Health System in 1995 as a staff nurse at Overlook Medical Center and has transitioned through various leadership roles, providing her with a unique perspective and strong relationships across the system. In her current role, Ms. Walker-Way is responsible for Chilton Medical Center's daily operations, including nursing, case management, emergency services, patient experience and more. She advocates for patient care and nursing excellence, and places a strong emphasis on recruitment and retention. In addition to her position as CNO, she is a member of the American Nurses Association, the Organization of Nurse Leaders N.J., and the American College of Healthcare Executives. She serves on the board of directors for the northern New Jersey chapter of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Judy Washington, MD. Associate Chief Medical Officer of Atlantic Medical Group (Morristown, N.J.). Dr. Washington is associate chief medical officer for Atlantic Medical Group, part of a physician enterprise that makes up one of the largest multispecialty practices in New Jersey with 1,600 clinicians, including 1,098 physicians, across 455 practice sites. Dr. Washington works with the medical group's chief medical officer to support quality, safety, engagement, clinical services and DEI efforts. She works to engage AMG clinicians, team members, leadership and communities with DEI, with a focus on physicians and communities of color. To do this, she leads data-backed tactical discussions and strategies to address disparities in patient outcomes and in the number of minority physicians in clinical care, academics and leadership. She is also the coordinator for obstetrics and gynecology at the practice. She has been a family medicine physician since 1996, actively working to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the physician workforce and to increase the number of leadership positions filled by physicians who are underrepresented in medicine.

Tonya Washington, MSN, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Offier at Medstar Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center. Ms. Washington first joined MedStar Washington Hospital Center over 20 years ago as a clinical manager. She has since worked her way up to her current role as senior vice president and chief nursing officer. Her leadership has resulted in the hospital earning the Pathway to Excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2017.

Joy N. White. Director of Clinical Care Operations for UCI Health (Orange, Calif.). Ms. White is director of clinical care operations for UCI Health, a role that entails orchestrating a synchronized patient journey that is both efficient and excellent. She also holds the interim directorship of care management role, where she oversees the coordination of care services, optimizes resource utilization and enforces safety guidelines. The UCI Health System has witnessed a paradigm shift in patient throughput under her leadership, setting new benchmarks in operational efficiency, safety and quality of care. Ms. White spoke on patient progression at the American College of Healthcare Executives Congress in March 2024. She is also currently serving as president elect for the Association of California Nurse Leaders and as chair of the membership development and experience subcommittee for the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Orange County chapter.

Ketrese White, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President of Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston). Dr. White leads a workforce of more than 3,100 team members who are responsible for hospital, ambulatory and specialty care operations at Texas Children’s Hospital West and Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands. During her 24-year tenure, she has played a pivotal role in expanding the organization’s footprint. She was instrumental in the opening of two new community hospital locations, all while establishing new recruitment practices. She prioritizes employee connections and a sense of belonging through employee engagement committees at the West and Woodlands hospitals. She also oversaw the development of regional employee newsletters to enhance communication, alignment and overall employee experiences across the hospitals, resulting in higher retention rates. She was also a key player in expanding patient services offered to community hospitals across Greater Houston. Recognizing the importance of mental health, Dr. White spearheaded Texas Children’s Workforce Well-Being Task Force for frontline workers during the pandemic. She earned the Community Hero Award for Mentorship and Salute to Nurses Award from the Houston Chronicle, was honored as Nurse Leader of the Year at Texas Children’s, and was a recipient of the Mark A. Wallace Catalyst Leader Award, named after the long-time President and CEO of Texas Children’s Hospital.

Ena Williams, PhD, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. In her role as senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, Dr. Williams leads over 5,000 nurses and clinical staff. She first joined the hospital as a nurse in 1992, and was appointed to chief nursing officer in 2018. In 2022, she was named to the board of directors of the Joint Commission.

Stacie Williams, PhD. Director of Diversity, Social Responsibility and Community Relations at LCMC Health (New Orleans). Dr. Williams serves as LCMC Health’s external-facing representative to facilitate alignment of the system’s external engagement and partnerships with the system’s diversity and social responsibility strategy. The role requires her to be strategic and responsive to the systems’ emerging priorities by building intentional and collaborative relationships within communities and institutions at the local, state and regional levels, facilitating and investing in supplier diversity, community health partnerships and workforce development opportunities, addressing issues related to the social determinants of health, and identifying mission-aligned community, educational, business and civic stakeholders. She joined the system from Baton Rouge, La.-based Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health, where she has held multiple roles since 2013. Dr. Williams is also a DEI-practiced scholar, with experience in healthcare, governments and nonprofits. Professionally, she aims to create impact at the intersection of policy and practice.

Charlene J. Wilson, EdD. Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Rochester (N.Y.) Regional Health. Dr. Wilson is accountable for all dimensions of the people experience at Rochester Regional Health, including talent management, people operations, strategy, team member relations, total rewards, the human resource information system and talent acquisition. She is a results-focused leader who drives organizational development and a high-performance culture for 20,000 team members. With over 25 years of expertise in human resources and hospital operations, Dr. Wilson harnesses the full power of the health system’s most valuable assets, its people. She successfully developed an internal nursing agency and international nurse recruitment division, resulting in a 40% decrease in travel nurses in nine months and a 93% retention for international nurses. Before she arrived at Rochester Regional in 2023, Dr. Wilson served as chief people officer at Greenville, N.C.-based ECU Health. Dr. Wilson believes her most important career accomplishments to date are her leadership legacy and her contributions to the development of the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Nichole Wilson, DPT. Vice President of Community Health Operations for IU Health (Indianapolis). Dr. Wilson leads IU Health in four key clinical priorities: behavioral health; infant and maternal health; hypertension; and tobacco and nicotine cessation. She and her team create innovative, scalable models of care to address these areas through a health equity lens. She has helped implement automated social determinants of health screening, on-demand virtual social work and behavioral health services, and community health worker models. In addition, she broadens care access by providing health services and screenings in community settings like churches, barbershops and community centers. In the two years since assuming her current role, Dr. Wilson has launched an evidence-based community health worker model to support at-risk Latinx pregnant patients, a program supporting at-risk Black patients with uncontrolled hypertension, an automated screener to assess social needs of medically underserved patients, and various accessible community health services. She is also board chairman for Madam Walker Legacy Center and Women’s Fund of Central Indiana, board secretary for African American Legacy Fund of Indianapolis, and board member and immediate past board chair of Indy Public Safety Foundation.

Michelle Wimes. Senior Vice President, Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.). In 2020, Ms. Wimes became Children's Mercy Kansas City's inaugural chief equity and inclusion officer. Since then, she has conducted the hospital's first diversity workforce assessment, developed its first DEI strategic plan, and crafted innovative diversity and health equity initiatives. In addition, she was a key player in securing the hospital's participation in Project LEAD, a pilot diversity hiring program through the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce that measures the hiring of historically underrepresented populations. Under her leadership, the hospital has set a goal to increase the applicant pool to 30% diverse applicants. She also helped create the hospital's first formal supplier diversity program, which led to the hospital exceeding its spend goal with diverse suppliers. The hospital also received a two-year operational grant for $4 million from the Bloch Family Foundation to address disparities in health equity, patient experience and care coordination.

Tom Wright. Executive Vice President, CHRO for Children's Mercy Kansas City (Mo.). Mr. Wright's role as executive vice president, CHRO for Children's Mercy Kansas City has allowed him to shape the organization's culture by ensuring all team members are engaged, valued and connected to their work. He has been integral to the development of "culture unfreezing" events, where 8,500 team members over the next two years will attend sessions aimed at reducing burnout and supporting team member wellbeing. The organization has seen a decline in annualized nursing turnover over the last year, with an 8.7% voluntary turnover rate. In addition, the last year saw the percentage of team members experiencing high levels of engagement rise from 48% to 63%. Under Mr. Wright's leadership, Newsweek has honored Children's Mercy Kansas City with various workplace awards in 2023, including America’s Greatest Workplaces, America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity and America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women.

Geralda Xavier, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Hackettstown and Newton (N.J.) Medical Centers. At Hackettstown and Newton Medical Centers, Dr. Xavier plays a pivotal role in supporting and advancing physician engagement, integration and alignment for both hospitals and within the Atlantic Health System. She also works to strengthen relationships between the organizations and their medical staff, which encompasses both employed and private community physicians. Working closely with hospital leadership across Atlantic Health, Dr. Xavier is responsible for overseeing the quality and patient safety initiatives. Under her leadership, Newton was designated a high performing hospital in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , heart failure, kidney failure, maternity and stroke by U.S. News & World Report for 2023.

Technology and Innovation

Murielle Beene, DNP, RN. Senior Vice President and Chief Health Informatics Officer at Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.). In this role, Dr. Beene advances the important work of health informatics to ensure high-quality clinical care, zero harm and an exceptional care experience. Dr. Beene has led system initiatives like an administrative services redesign for informatics, as well as key collaborations with TogetherCare (Epic EHR). She is also a member of the leadership team implementing Trinity Health's new care model, which uses a three person team to provide nursing care to patients. She has more than 20 years of health informatics experience in various positions. Prior to joining Trinity Health in 2018, Dr. Beene served as chief nursing informatics officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Donald Ferrell. Senior Vice President of Facilities and Construction at Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.). As regional facilities vice president, Mr. Ferrell is responsible for Hackensack University Medical Center and Palisades Medical Center. Most recently, he played a key role in the creation of the Helena Theurer Pavilion, a 530,000-square foot facility that incorporates the latest technology to provide an enhanced patient, team and physician experience. Mr. Ferrell also collaborates with plant operations leadership at Palisades Medical Center and the Hackensack School of Medicine, helping with real estate transactions and executing large- and small-scale projects. Additionally, he serves as co-chair and advisor to the Hackensack Meridian Health facilities committee.

Montez Fitzpatrick. Chief Information Security Officer at Navvis (St. Louis). Mr. Fitzpatrick leads the day-to-day security and risk management efforts across all aspects of Navvis' technology operations and infrastructure. He also utilizes top-of-line cybersecurity and intelligence to ensure the protection of patient and client data and assets. As the creator of the organization's current information security program, Mr. Fitzpatrick has also developed a dynamic five-year plan to support its growth. In addition, he is at the helm of Navvis' diversity, equity and inclusion committee.

Sam Githinji. Chief Information Security Officer at Children's Minnesota (Minneapolis). Mr. Githinji's primary responsibility as chief information security officer at Children’s Minnesota is to implement processes and procedures that protect patient, employee and business information from cybersecurity threats. Along with key stakeholders, he uses a risk-based approach to drive strategic decisions and put in place security safeguards. He oversaw the development of a cybersecurity program, including strategy, execution, budgeting, talent and resources. Since taking on his current role in December 2021, he has established and formalized an information security governance, created a security framework and governance policies, launched a cybersecurity risk management function, initiated a cybersecurity incident response program, added a cybersecurity operations center, ran security awareness training for team members, and much more. Mr. Githinji is also the founder of a small cybersecurity mentorship organization called Cybergem. With over 19 years of experience in the field, he brings a breadth of knowledge about technology risk management and cybersecurity programs to his role.

Lisa Griffin. Chief Consumer Officer at University Hospitals (Cleveland). Ms. Griffin spearheads patient access programs and works to revamp the health system's strategy to better facilitate patient care. As an Epic expert with more than 20 years of experience, Ms. Griffin was instrumental in University Hospitals' recent transition to the Epic EHR platform in 2023. Additionally, she created a new enterprise department called care connections access, which focuses on servicing the community by matching each unique patient need with all available care and services offered across the system. Ms. Griffin's work directly improved scheduling access systemwide, realizing a $1 million impact within 13 weeks. She also championed the establishment of the access council committee, a multidisciplinary approach to driving efficacious change across the access continuum. Through these efforts, Ms. Griffin was able to raise overall patient satisfaction by 10% in 2022.

Kevonne Holloway. Managing Director of Global Content Partners for Elsevier (Amsterdam, Netherlands). Ms. Holloway assumed her current role as managing director of global content partners for Elsevier in 2021. She leads an international team that publishes more than 2,700 books annually, in addition to digital content for a number of products and solutions. Her team liaises with more than 35,000 authors who contribute to the company's research and healthcare content. Ms. Holloway also serves as the company's race and ethnicity business sponsor, where she builds partnerships that create more opportunities for minority groups in healthcare. She has helped form partnerships between the company and historically black colleges and universities, including North Carolina Central University, Hampton University, Winston-Salem State University, Tuskegee University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. These partnerships provide opportunities to Black nursing students through $10,000 scholarships, helping to reduce racial disparity and increase representation. The partnership she facilitated with North Carolina Central University’s Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Institute has furthered their implementation science program, which in turn helps medical advances reach underrepresented communities quicker. Additionally, Ms. Holloway is a board member of the Elsevier Foundation.

Chelsea King Arthur, MD. Vice President of Population and Digital Health at Get Well (Bethesda, Md.). Dr. King Arthur's mission is to bridge the gap between the healthcare continuum and patients through whole-person, personalized care. She works to execute this mission through her role at Get Well and as the immediate past chairwoman of the board for Health Care for the Homeless. Every day, she sees first-hand the hurdles under-resourced and marginalized populations face while trying to access quality care. At Get Well, Dr. King Arthur addresses these issues in the patient healthcare experiences through scalable, AI-powered digital engagement tools. Her current focus is on expanding successful programs in two priority areas: youth mental health and maternal health. Utilizing baseline outcomes and engagement data, Dr. King Arthur and her team tailor interventions to meet the specific healthcare needs of targeted populations. Rigorous screening identifies existing providers, and in cases where providers are lacking, she leads a team in constructing personalized pathways, resources and tools for patients based on their risk profiles. To further their impact, the equity-focused programs also incorporate culturally and linguistically appropriate content for their intended populations.

Derrick Lowe. Chief Security Officer for Orlando (Fla.) Health. Mr. Lowe is chief security officer for Orlando Health, where he guides the system's strategy for IT security risk and business resiliency programs, ensuring that information assets, technologies and business processes are protected. His scope of work impacts all aspects of the 32-hospital organization, touching cybersecurity operations, physical and system access management, disaster recovery, IT business continuity, corporate security, and major incident and IT business emergency management and planning functions. Since joining the system in 2020, he has developed an effective security strategy based on best practices, created playbooks of actionable goals for each subsect of the organization, and regularly leads training exercises at each site. He brings over 20 years of experience as a cybersecurity professional to his role at Orlando Health. Under Mr. Lowe's leadership, the system has been recognized by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives with the “Most Wired” Performance Excellence Award for 2020-23.

Novlet Mattis. Senior Vice President and Chief Digital and Information Officer at Orlando (Fla.) Health. Ms. Mattis provides leadership in information technology, clinical engineering and digital innovation. She oversees a budget of more than $300 million and a team of nearly 740 staff members. She also led the implementation of Epic's EHR platform at Orlando Health.

Donald Moore. Senior Vice President for Real Estate, Facilities and Operations at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Mr. Moore works closely with his team, other system executives, and local and regional communities to ensure the planning and delivery of various projects meet strategic priorities and position CHOP for future growth. With over four decades of experience in facilities development, master planning and operations management, he is currently spearheading CHOP’s largest-ever $3.4 billion capital expansion program. In addition to his role at CHOP, Mr. Moore holds several leadership positions in outside organizations that support his humanitarian and community interests, including board chair of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia and board member of Free Library of Philadelphia, Schuylkill River Development Corporation, Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, PBS Impact Foundation and Making a Better Tomorrow Foundation. He is part of the current and founding board of the newly established Philadelphia Chapter of the African American Real Estate Professionals organization and is a member of University City Science Center Real Estate Advisory Committee and Urban Land Institute’s University Development & Innovation Council. In 2024, he received the Commercial Real Estate Women Greater Philadelphia Catalyst Award for his unwavering dedication to advancing diversity within the commercial real estate sector in Philadelphia.

Gary Scott. Senior Vice President of Facilities, Real Estate, Construction and Support Services for The University of Vermont Health Network (Burlington). Mr. Scott is the first leader of a centralized team focused on nonclinical support services across the University of Vermont Health Network’s rural service area of more than 1 million people. Building on more than two decades in facilities management, including more than a decade of complex problem-solving, long-range planning and emergency response in health care, Mr. Scott oversees an integrated approach to UVMHN services, including facilities maintenance, emergency management, environmental health and safety, planning, design and construction, real estate and sustainability. He plays an instrumental role in developing the health system’s plans for infrastructure investment and facilities in support of an enhanced workplace environment, workforce development and high-quality, innovative care delivery. He is “connecting the dots” on complex issues like patient access, employee housing, capital planning, space needs and real estate, while helping direct resources where they’re needed most in a challenging financial environment. His expertise has been central to overcoming environmental challenges at a UVMHN campus that serves thousands of patients, leading to the restoration of inpatient rehabilitation and surgical services there.

Angela Thomas, DrPH. Vice President of Healthcare Delivery Research for MedStar Health (Columbia, Md.). Dr. Thomas serves as vice president of healthcare delivery research for MedStar Health, where she leads a team of experts in the application of rigorous scientific methods to create data-driven solutions for healthcare improvement. Her team integrates science with clinical and operational expertise to address quality, safety, innovation, health economics, payment reform, outcomes, health services research, data science and health equity. Dr. Thomas is also the executive leader of the $30 million Safe Babies Safe Moms initiative, a program that has reduced disparities in maternal and infant mortality between Black and white birthing persons in the last four years. She is also the principal investigator for an aligned project called "The Mother's Voice", which elevates the voices of Black birthing people and leverages natural language processing and AI clinical informatics for the provision of non-biased, non-discriminatory care. Under Dr. Thomas’ leadership, the healthcare delivery research portfolio has grown from under $2 million in revenue annually in 2013 to over $19 million in revenue. With a scientific and operations career spanning over two decades, Dr. Thomas has been published in several peer-reviewed academic journals, appeared on multiple media outlets, and serves as faculty at Georgetown University’s School of Health.