In this episode of the I Choose the Ladder Podcast you meet Brenda Battle, a leading voice in healthcare and Senior Vice President of Community Health Transformation and Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at UChicago Medicine. With over 30 years of experience, Brenda Battle is a trailblazer in healthcare who has worked tirelessly to improve health equity and access for marginalized communities.

Brenda oversees efforts to design UCM’s community-health management strategy, develop and implement coordinated, innovative healthcare solutions to address healthcare disparities, and foster innovation in UCM’s care delivery system by crafting care models that promote diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Brenda leads efforts to integrate the resources and strategies of the UChicago Medicine with the assets and resources of the community to meet the healthcare needs of populations served by the UCM system. Ms. Battle oversees UChicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative (UHI) which facilitates and coordinates efforts to address complex health and social needs of residents on the South Side of Chicago by bringing a collaborative, community-based, and participatory problem- solving approach to the health and social needs of UCM’s patients and the broader community; creating greater access to high-quality and culturally competent information, educational programs, financial and healthcare resources that empower community members to live the healthiest lives possible; generating goodwill in the community and the social capital/relationships needed to create new services and programs that improve population health and reduce gaps in the social determinants of health; serving as the bridge to the community to training and research; and serving as the honest broker providing UCM’s community consciousness, enabling the UHI to listen in to the community and communicate back to UCM leadership what the community needs and wants.

Prior to joining the UCM, Brenda was the director of the inaugural Center for Diversity and Cultural Competence for Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO, were she oversaw programs to eliminate health disparities, promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Brenda has over 38 years of health care experience, serving as Executive Vice President, Government and Community Affairs for Medical Transportation Management (MTM), Inc., and leading operations in commercial and Medicaid managed care. Brenda has several publications, and has served as national speaker on reducing health care disparities.