While we have many across the organization leading the way, these are some of our key leaders driving change.
Brandon Buchanan
Director, Health Equity Impact Team
Brandon Buchanan leads and supports the mission to improve healthcare equity for our patients and communities. He promotes the HEIT vision to understand healthcare disparities in our communities by working with internal and external stakeholders to form deeper and insightful relationships, develop strategies to improve healthcare equity and take action to embed equitable care through all aspects of NorthShore University HealthSystem.
Gabrielle Cummings
President, Highland Park Hospital
Gabrielle Cummings co-chairs the Healthcare Equity team (HEIT) to ensure outstanding care for patients, including all who identify with underrepresented communities. She believes increased awareness about the unconscious bias that exists and the impact that bias has on the delivery of healthcare is essential to delivering on NorthShore’s promise to become the most trusted and indispensable community heath partner.
Samir A. Desai
Vice President, Talent Management & Organization Development, Human Resources
Samir Desai co-leads NorthShore’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Group and has championed NorthShore’s recent journey to accelerate change. He believes that every person deserves the opportunity to be their authentic selves and thrive—here at NorthShore, in our communities, and beyond. He guides NorthShore’s DE&I vision and is committed to raising awareness, building empathy, and driving tough changes to be more diverse and embed equity in everything we do.
Lakshmi Halasyamani, MD
Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Halasyamani believes that each individual has an obligation and opportunity to critically examine their own perspectives, reflect on those, and learn to be more aware of biases, especially those that impact inequity in our healthcare interactions and systems. She helps lead NorthShore’s work to transform awareness into sincere and meaningful actions that positively impact our own thoughts, words, and deeds, and ultimately translate into improved outcomes and wellbeing of patients and team members.
Kristen Murtos
Chief Innovation & Transformation Officer
Kristen Murtos is the executive sponsor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at NorthShore and co-leads the DE&I Action Group. Through her various roles at NorthShore, Kristen has been passionate about providing opportunities for greater diversity, and enhancing access to healthcare in our communities, She believes that our strength comes from our differences, and the importance of all of us reflecting and recognizing our biases to be more inclusive. She is leading NorthShore to transform these perspectives into opportunities for growth and greater wellbeing for all in our communities, particularly those who have historically been underserved.
Dianna Sparacino
Chief People Officer
Dianna Sparacino leads NorthShore’s culture and people strategy, and believes empathy, respect, and compassion are at the core of who we are and what we do for each other and our patients. She believes everyone should be heard and valued regardless of their role, identity, or background and has led the way promoting greater understanding and inclusion. She is focused on building partnerships to expand recruiting and leadership development to grow diverse care teams and leadership across NorthShore, building greater connections with our patients and the communities we serve.