Airica Steed , Ed.D., MBA, RN, CSSMBB, FACHE, IASSC, is the President and Chief Executive Officer at MetroHealth System. Dr. Steed previously served as the Executive Vice President/System Chief Operating Officer of Sinai Chicago Health System and President of Mount Sinai and Sinai Children’s Hospital. In her role at Sinai Chicago, Dr. Steed architected and led a multifaceted clinical, operational, financial and cultural transformation that accumulated over $200M in improvements over three years while radically improving publicly reported quality indicators and reducing hospital-acquired infections and mortality rates by 40 percent. She also serves in several academic positions, including the University of Illinois School of Public Health, and holds key board positions including at the Loyola University Chicago Quinlan School of Business and inaugural board seats on both the South Side Healthy Community Organization and the West Side Health Equity Collaborative. Dr. Steed is a proud fourth-generation nurse and brings a clinical perspective through her work as a nurse throughout her career.

Dr. Steed is nationally awarded, regarded and recognized across the country for her innovation and leadership. In 2020, Modern Healthcare named Dr. Steed among its “Top 25 Healthcare Innovators,” and last year included her among the “Top 25 Minority Leaders.” She is also named by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the “Top 130 Women Hospital & Health System Leaders to Know” and “75 Black Healthcare Leaders to Know.”

Prior to joining Sinai Chicago, she was Senior Vice President, Operations at Presence Health; Chief Experience & Administrative Officer at University of Illinois Health System – one of the first chief patient experience officers in the country; Vice President, Clinical Operations and Professional Services/Operations at Advocate Health System, the largest integrated health system in Illinois; and a Senior Consultant and Engagement Leader at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. 

She has a Doctorate of Education in Leadership from Olivet Nazarene University, a Master of Business Administration from Governors State University and a Bachelor of Science, Nursing from Rush University. She is also pursuing a Master’s in International Relations with a focus on Healthcare from Harvard University Extension School.