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Modern Healthcare is proud to recognize and celebrate the 2012 Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare. Each of these esteemed honorees has demonstrated outstanding leadership, dedication and the ability to influence positive change. We are inspired by a

Kelvin Baggett Dr. Kelvin Baggett, 40, has served as chief medical officer for Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, since 2009. He earlier worked as vice president of clinical strategy and chief operating officer for HCA’s clinical services group. Among Baggett’s accomplishments has been establishing Tenet’s Clinical Innovation Awards, which recognize system hospitals for showing progress in implementing ideas and solutions to improve patient outcomes while staying committed to safety, quality and service. Regina Benjamin Dr. Regina Benjamin took over at the end of 2009 as U.S. surgeon general under the Obama administration. Benjamin, 55, is the country’s 18th surgeon general, and previously served as associate dean for rural health at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. The American Medical Association appointed her in 1995 as its first African-American female board member, as well as the first doctor younger than 40 on the board. Her numerous awards include the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Tanya Blackmon Three years ago, Tanya Blackmon began her tenure as president of 60-bed Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville (N.C.), where she oversees more than 600 employees. Blackmon, 52, started in 1992 with the Presbyterian family of hospitals as director of inpatient planning and eventually became director of clinical improvement and community-care services. Before taking the helm at the Huntersville hospital, she served as chief operating officer of Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital in Charlotte, N.C., since 2004. John Bluford Since 1999, John Bluford has served as president and CEO of Truman Medical Centers, Kansas City, Mo. Bluford, 62, has more than 30 years in the healthcare field, including six years as CEO at Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis. He served as board chairman of the American Hospital Association in 2011 and chairman of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems in 2008. He appeared on the Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare list in 2006 and again in 2010. Benjamin Chu Dr. Benjamin Chu, 60, has been group president of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan’s Southern California and Hawaii regions since 2005. His career includes a stint as senior vice president for medical professional affairs for the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. Previously, Chu was senior associate dean at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons for the Harlem Hospital Affiliation in New York. He’s currently chairman-elect of the American Hospital Association’s board of trustees. Lloyd Dean While Dignity Health, San Francisco, changed names this year from Catholic Healthcare West and cut official ties to the Roman Catholic Church, Lloyd Dean, the company’s president and CEO, still remains a fixture on Modern Healthcare’s list of the Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare. Dean, 61, one of the most influential healthcare administrators in the country, has led Dignity since 2001. He also has appeared on Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare ranking every year since 2005. Ralph de la Torre In 2008, Dr. Ralph de le Torre became CEO of Steward Health Care System in Boston, a for-profit that he also serves as chairman. De la Torre, 45, also founded the CardioVascular Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and served as its CEO. During that time, he also was chief of cardiac surgery at the hospital. He also appeared on Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare list in 2010. Jackie DeSouza Jackie DeSouza last November was named CEO of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) Medical Center, owned by Nashville-based HCA. But she’s no newcomer to HCA. DeSouza, 37, has been working at the chain since 2000, when she began as an administrative resident at Medical Center of Aurora (Colo.). Most recently, starting in 2006, she was chief operating officer at HCA’s Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo. Only months on the job at Lee’s Summit, she’s begun some innovations at the hospital, including the start of town-hall style meetings for employees to share ideas.