What does it really mean to lead a safety-net health system?
In this powerful episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, Michael Stamatinos sits down with Dr. Ngozi Ezike, President and CEO of Sinai Chicago, to talk about leadership, health equity, innovation under constraint, and what transformation actually looks like on the ground.
Before leading Sinai Chicago, Dr. Ezike served as Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. But long before the cameras and press conferences, she was and still is a physician rooted in community care.
This is not a surface-level healthcare interview.
This is a deep conversation about:
• What “safety net” really means and why most people misunderstand it
• Leading a health system serving Medicaid and uninsured populations
• Innovation without unlimited resources
• Why Sinai invested in a new Epic electronic health record despite financial constraints
• Community health workers and why they are a “win-win-win” model
• Transportation barriers and how vans improved patient show rates
• Medical literacy, social determinants of health, and real patient stories
• The bold bets required to transform urban healthcare
Dr. Ezike shares candid reflections on leading under constraint, building trust in historically marginalized communities, and why safety-net systems are essential to the health of an entire city.
If you care about healthcare leadership, hospital innovation, public health, community-based care, or the future of urban health systems...this conversation is for you.
Sinai Chicago serves Chicago’s West and South Sides for more than 100 years, and Dr. Ezike is working to ensure it thrives for the next 100.
Learn more about Sinai Chicago:
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About the Show
The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation.
The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light.
🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelstamo
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