President & CEO, The MetroHealth System

Dr. Airica Steed serves as the “first woman, first black person, and first nurse” to be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer and President for The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio comprised of $1.7B net revenue, 5 acute and specialty care hospitals, 8000 employees and providers, over 40 ambulatory care locations, and one of the most highly regarded academic public health systems across the country. She is renowned for spearheading large scale transformations encompassing greater than $300M in combined financial improvements, top decile quality/safety performance outcomes, healthy profitable growth, as well as making monumental groundbreaking advancements in advancing health equity and eradicating healthcare disparities. As a proud 4^th generation nurse, she is fighting passionately to zero out the death gap and to make sure that every person has an equal chance at living long and healthy lives while simultaneously lifting up the wealth in the underserved communities.

Dr. Steed is a vastly accomplished and award winning transformational healthcare executive with over 20 years of exceptional leadership experience and proven track record of driving results, including recognition as Modern Healthcare’s “Top Women Leaders”, “Top 25 Minority Leaders in Healthcare”, “Top 25 Healthcare Innovators” and “Up & Comer”; Diversity MBA Magazine “Top 100 Executive Leaders Under 50”; and Becker’s Healthcare “26 Women  CEOs of Hospitals & Health Systems to Know”, “Top 130 Female Healthcare Leaders to Know”, “Black Healthcare Leaders to Know”, and “Rising Star”.  Dr. Steed is recognized as a strategic and visionary change leader, transformational architect and international expert in Lean Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige framework, and “Big 4” management consulting across academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, safety net organizations, ambulatory clinics and network, multi-site clinically integrated healthcare systems, and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

Dr. Steed is a an avid speaker on both a national and international level and published author, as well as a Board Member and Faculty Member spanning several organizations. She received her Doctorate of Education in Ethical Leadership (Ed.D) with distinction, Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and numerous certifications, including Master Black Belt and International Trainer in Lean Six Sigma and Fellow of American College of Healthcare Executives. She is currently pursuing a second Masters in Global Development from Harvard University. On top of her many accolodates, her most prized accomplishment is being a devoted mother to 4 children and 2 dogs.