Leadership Rounds with Dr. Mindy Estes and Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom

AHA Board Chair Melinda Estes, M.D., hosts a series of Leadership Rounds — short conversations on a range of key issues Dr. Estes will have with hospital and health system leaders from across the country.

The fifth in the series featured Dr. Estes talking with Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom, Senior Vice President of Community Health & Equity and Chief Wellness & Diversity Officer at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit and Michigan's First Surgeon General about health equity. This episode was recorded on October 8, 2020.

Joining Dr. Estes on Her Rounds

Dr. Kimberlydawn Wisdom

Senior Vice President of Community Health & Equity and Chief Wellness & Diversity Officer, Henry Ford Health System, and Michigan's First Surgeon General

Kimberlydawn Wisdom, MD, MS is the Senior Vice President of Community Health & Equity and Chief Wellness and Diversity Officer at Henry Ford Health System. She is a board-certified Emergency Medicine physician, the Chair of the Gail and Lois Warden Endowment on Multicultural Health, and Michigan’s and the nation’s First State-level Surgeon General. In 2012 she was appointed by President Obama to serve on the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health. Since 1987 she has been on the faculty of University of Michigan (UM) Medical School’s Department of Medical Education and adjunct professor in the UM School of Public Health. Dr. Wisdom focuses on health disparities/health care equity, infant mortality/maternal and child health, chronic disease, unintended pregnancy, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating habits, and tobacco use. She has worked collaboratively with school districts, faith-based organizations and the business community.

Dr. Wisdom provides strong leadership in community benefit/population health, and improving the health of those disproportionately affected by poor health outcomes. She founded the award-winning African American Initiative for Male Health Improvement (AIM –HI) and most recently, the Women Inspired Neighborhood (WIN) Network which aims to improve access to healthcare and reduce infant mortality in neighborhoods in Detroit. Since 2008, she has chaired the Detroit Infant Mortality Reduction Task Force. In 2007, she founded a youth leadership development effort – Generation With Promise (GWP) – designed to equip youth to drive policy, environmental and behavioral change in their school and community. GWP youth were featured on the cover of Modern Healthcare in June 2014. Dr. Wisdom is the recipient of numerous awards, has authored several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and appeared on national television, including ABC’s Nightline, and has presented to audiences across the country and internationally.