Modern Healthcare’s list of the “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare,” published every two years, honors those who are influencing policy and care delivery models across the country. The publication’s 2018 list was comprised of leaders of renowned organizations from academic medical centers to national associations to managed care giants to government offices; among these outstanding individuals were three executives Quick Leonard Kieffer is proud to have placed in the roles for which they were recognized.
Debra Canales was placed in the role of executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Providence Health and Services in Renton, Washington in 2014. Providence joined with St. Joseph Health in 2016 to become Providence St. Joseph Health, an eight-state system that encompasses 50 hospitals, 829 clinics, and 14 supportive housing facilities; 111,000 employees, 20,000 physicians, and 38,000 nurses; two health plans and 1.9 million covered lives; $1.6 billion in community benefits; and 90 non-acute services.
Deb was lauded by Modern Healthcare for driving physician engagement, creating a stable work environment that has bred increased retention and decreased turnover, and increasing women’s presence in senior leadership by 50%, as well as sponsoring a groundbreaking benefits program to provide free or reduced medical insurance to those employees most in need, which earned Providence the Employee Assistance Trade Association’s Corporate Award of Excellence in 2016.
Deb was recruited to Providence from Trinity Health in Michigan, where she served as executive vice president and chief culture and talent effectiveness officer. Previously, she served as the chief administrative officer and chief human resource officer for Trinity Health, as the senior vice president of human resources for Centura Health, and in a variety of progressively responsible human resource roles with Compaq Computer Corporation; additionally, she has been in human resource roles with PepsiCo/KFC, R.H. Macy’s Company, and Palais Royal. Deb holds a bachelor’s degree in management from The University of Texas at Austin.
Deb is on the boards of directors of AMICA Mutual Insurance, The Breakaway Group-Healthcare Division of Xerox, American Society of Employers, and the Inforum-Women’s Alliance Group, and is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration. In addition, she is a certified executive coach, inspiring others to transformational leadership.
Dr. Rhonda Medows was also placed at Providence Health and Services; she joined the organization in 2015 as the executive vice president of population health, a newly created role that required an innovative and progressive leader. Within this expansive organization, Dr. Medows has served as a key member of the senior team, leading the overall vision, development, and implementation of a full continuum of progressive population health initiatives that meet the demands of the multiple markets and communities served by Providence.
Dr. Medows was acknowledged by Modern Healthcare for her work in developing and promulgating population health strategies for vulnerable Medicare and Medicaid populations, and for leading quality improvement efforts that resulted in a five-star rating from CMS for Providence’s Medicare Advantage plan. She was also named among Modern Healthcare’s “50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders” in 2018 and won the 2017 Women of Influence Award from the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Dr. Medows was recruited to Providence from UnitedHealth Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she served as chief medical officer and executive vice president. Previously, she served as the Commissioner for the Georgia Department of Community Health, as a regional chief medical officer for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as an independent healthcare industry consultant, as the Secretary of the State of Florida Agency for Health Care, and as a corporate medical director for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. She began her career as a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente SE Permanente Medical Group and at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.
Dr. Meadows holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and business management from Cornell University, and an MD from Morehouse School of Medicine. She is board-certified in family medicine and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Medows has served on the National Quality Forum, URAC, and NCQA advisory boards, working collaboratively on the evolving national quality agenda and health system transformation, and is an active contributor to and advisory council member of several industry organizations. In addition, she is currently in her second three-year term on the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services about physician payment models.
Terika Richardson was placed in the role of president for Advocate Trinity Hospital in Chicago in 2016, tasked with enacting a number of initiatives to address finances, growth, satisfaction, and strategy; in 2017, her success in these areas led to the expansion of her scope to include oversight of Advocate South Suburban Hospital in the southeast suburbs.
Terika was recognized by Modern Healthcare for successfully improving the hospital’s financial foundation by increasing patient volume through improved referral relationships, enacting a care redesign to reduce the number of patients sent to SNFs, and leading a renovation project to improve nurse workflow. She has introduced innovative technologies and has overseen a $10 million modernization program including the construction of a new 10-bed Surgical Intensive Care Unit. In addition to her recent recognition by Modern Healthcare, Terika has been listed among Crain’s Chicago Business 2016 “40 Under 40,” where she was described as a “focused executive” who was able to successfully build out service lines to address the particular health challenges of Trinity’s local community, and she won the 2016 Chicago Health Executives Forum’s “Young Healthcare Executive Award.”
Terika was recruited to Trinity from Retreat Doctors’ Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, where she served as the chief executive officer. Previously, Terika served as the chief operating officer and interim CEO of HCA-Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia; as the associate administrator of HCA-Reston Hospital Center in Reston, Virginia; and as the administrative director of operating services at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Manhasset, New York. She began her career in the infection control department of the University of Michigan Hospital and Health Care System, subsequently completing an internship with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Center for Healthcare Quality and working as a program development specialist with Planned Parenthood of Mid-Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biopsychology and cognitive science and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan, and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
