MetroHealth CEO Named Among Modern Healthcare's Women Leaders
MetroHealth President & CEO Airica Steed, Ed.D, RN, MBA, FACHE, has been recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Women Leaders for 2024. This prestigious recognition acknowledges and honors women executives from all sectors of the healthcare industry for their contributions to care delivery improvement, health equity, policy and gender equity in healthcare leadership.
Dr. Steed joined MetroHealth in December 2022 and is the first woman, first person of color and first nurse to serve as its chief executive in the health system’s almost 200-year history. In December of 2023, Dr. Steed was also recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of the Most Influential People in Healthcare.
“Our 2024 honorees for Women Leaders and Rising Stars represent all corners of the industry, including providers, payers, suppliers and associations,” said Mary Ellen Podmolik, editor-in-chief of Modern Healthcare. “These women are working diligently to advance the objectives of their own organizations, with a focus on improving the patient experience. At the same time, they are advocates, tackling equity issues within their own organizations and the broader community.”
Under Dr. Steed’s leadership, MetroHealth has made a bold commitment to eradicate health disparities, zero out the death gap and ensure everyone has access to high-quality medical care, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religion, who they love, where they live or their ability to pay. As part of that effort, MetroHealth has developed a comprehensive, innovative and community-centered approach and national model and enhancing health equity and improving healthcare access for all.
Dr. Steed’s passion to address health equities is born of personal pain: She lost both her grandmothers, her mother, and younger sister due to misdiagnoses and being denied access to timely screenings that may have saved their lives. She also experienced near-death preeclampsia during two pregnancies, a condition disproportionately affecting Black women.
“I am truly humbled by this recognition from Modern Healthcare, especially because it comes during Women’s History Month,” Dr. Steed said. “I am proud of the thousands of women at MetroHealth who are leading by example and empowering young women in our community to follow in their footsteps. For every woman who has shattered that glass or even concrete ceiling, countless others remain unaware of their untapped superpowers. As women leaders, it is our responsibility to help them discover their powers within.”
Founded in 1837, MetroHealth is leading the way to a healthier you and a healthier community through service, teaching, discovery, and teamwork. Cuyahoga County’s public, safety-net hospital system, MetroHealth meets people where they are, providing care through five hospitals, four emergency departments and more than 20 health centers. Each day, our nearly 9,000 employees focus on providing our community with equitable healthcare — through patient-focused research, access to care, and support services — that seeks to eradicate health disparities rooted in systematic barriers. For more information, visit metrohealth.org.
