Ninfa M. Saunders is a consummate professional whose vision for healthcare is only rivaled by her passion for the people and community that she serves. For over 45 years she has been a major figure in driving excellence, innovation and transformation in many organizations, associations and communities. She is a respected thought leader, strategist and pioneer in developing and successfully implementing new models and tools to help optimize processes and achieve the desired outcome. She is a scholar who teaches, writes and encourages staff to focus on applied research to discover and contribute new concepts to the body of knowledge by examining the current state and testing the possibilities of the future state.
Dr. Saunders received her Doctor of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina, where she graduated with the highest honors and was recognized as a distinguished alumnus two years after completing the program. She was one of the first nurses to be accepted and graduated from Emory University’s Executive MBA program in 1984. She received her Master’s in Nursing from Rutgers University and her undergraduate degree in nursing from Concordia College. She received her certification as a Six Sigma Black Belt from the University of Michigan.
Her passion for strategy, organizational and service excellence is well acclaimed. Her compelling passion and commitment for meaningful partnership with vulnerable communities, in particular, the struggling rural hospitals, propelled her to partner with another CEO to form Stratus Healthcare, a non-equity collaboration of 30 hospitals, over 20 of which are rural hospitals. She was regionally and nationally recognized for this innovative approach, garnering the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospital’s coveted Georgia CEO of the Year award in 2014, less than a year after she arrived in Georgia. Today, Stratus has become a model emulated by many across the nation. She is nationally known for the development of the Center for Disruption and Innovation and its partnership with various entrepreneurial organizations. While at Virtua Health, she led Enterprise partnership with GE Healthcare focused on knowledge transfer and new product testing.
Dr. Saunders is relentless about sharing what she knows and what she has with others in order to leave places and people better than she found them. She has partnered with other organizations and individuals within her community to focus on the healthcare needs of the homeless, women’s health and women’s heart health in particular. She has mobilized providers, the local Health Department and United Way, and educational institutions to increase awareness and develop recommendations to address health disparities. Navicent Health has garnered national attention for these efforts, earning the American Hospital Association’s prestigious 2018 Equity of Care Award. In recognition of her leadership, Dr. Saunders has been recognized by Georgia Trend as one of the state’s 100 Most Influential Georgians for the third consecutive year.
Dr. Saunders was also recognized by Modern Healthcare as one of 2020’s Top 25 Minority Leaders in Healthcare and 2019’s Top 25 Women Leaders in the U.S. She was honored by the Georgia Diversity Council as one of Georgia’s “Most Powerful & Influential Women” and Becker’s Hospital Review listed her as “130 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” for seven consecutive years. She has twice been named one of the “Most Influential Women of the Mid-Market” in the U.S. by CEO Connection. At the local level, Saunders received New Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church’s 2019 Humanitarian Award and was named central Georgia’s 2014 Person of the Year by The Telegraph for her outstanding contributions to improve human welfare for the citizens of Macon-Bibb County.
Her resolve to make a critical difference extends beyond the region. Her national presence and leadership are equally noteworthy. Dr. Saunders recently received national acclaim for her efforts to successfully form a strategic combination with Charlotte-based Atrium Health, one of the nation’s premier health systems. Through their strategic combination, the health systems will improve access to high quality health services, particularly for those in rural and underserved areas. A past chair of the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals board of directors, Dr. Saunders currently serves on the boards of the Georgia Hospital Association and the American Hospital Association, where she is the past chair of the Institute for Diversity. She was a member of the American Hospital Association’s Task Force on Vulnerable Communities. She has been invited and accepted to the Healthcare Executive Study Society. Recognized as a national thought leader, particularly in the areas of innovation and disruptive change, Saunders is a frequently featured as a subject matter expert on various matters related to healthcare, and most recently published “The Changing Face of Strategic Health Care Partnerships” with Futurescan. She sits on the editorial board of Healthcare Transformation and is an executive with Fierce Healthcare’s CEO Advisory Board. A frequent expert in several roundtables and healthcare forums, Saunders serves on the President’s Leadership Council of Jefferson University and Health System. She is professor at Mercer University’s School of Medicine and is a member of the Deans’ Advisory Council at both Emory University and Rutgers University.
Dr. Saunders’ contributions to healthcare and beyond have made a critical difference in the lives, organizations and communities she has touched. Her favorite mantra, one that her parents invoked in all their children, is one which she passionately lives by each day: “You must leave a place and people better than when you found them”.
