Courtney Kammer, MHA, has served as RUSH University Medical Center’s chief human resources officer since January 2020. She provides leadership for all strategic and operational human resources processes to assess organizational culture and physician strategy, drive change and integrate practice and policy across all Medical Center entities in order to attract, engage, reward and retain talent.
In her first months in the role of chief HR officer, Kammer played a crucial part in RUSH’s COVID-19 response, which included the redeployment of a large portion of employees to new roles, transition of many others to working remotely, implementing paid leave for employees quarantining due to having possible or confirmed cases of COVID-19, and providing an array of support for frontline staff, including more flexible paid time off arrangements, new transportation options and temporary housing accommodations near the Medical Center campus. Since May, she has overseen the human resources aspect of employees returning to their original roles as RUSH resumed normal clinical operations to provide patients with the full spectrum of care.
In April 2023, Kammer was appointed as a board member of the Skills for Chicagoland’s Future Board of Directors; a Chicago nonprofit organization that creates demand driven solutions for employers to get the unemployed and underemployed back into the employment workforce.
In addition, Kammer is a recipient of a 2020 Carol Emmott Fellowship, which aims to decrease the disparities in upper level leadership by women throughout the health care field. For her fellowship project, Kammer aims to implement a talent management mechanism to ensure the Medical Center is providing opportunities for the advancement and development of women and under-represented minorities.
Kammer previously was the Medical Center’s interim vice president of talent management, successfully growing and strengthening the HR talent management team, while also serving as vice president of provider services and recruitment, with responsibility for strategies to integrate staff and stakeholders in a robust retention and engagement process. Earlier, as the Medical Center’s associate vice president of provider services and recruitment, she developed and implemented a faculty recruitment strategy that integrated multiple levels and divisions into the process in order to attract and retain exceptional physicians and researchers.
She began her career at RUSH in 2006 as director of faculty recruitment, implementing and managing a centralized department including both clinical and research recruitment activities. Prior to joining RUSH, Kammer was director of physician services for St. Francis Hospital & Health Center in Blue Island, Illinois.
She completed the Master of Healthcare Administration Executive Program at the University of Minnesota and received her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University. She was an executive board member and the treasurer of the Association for Advancing Physician and Provider Recruitment. Kammer also has held several executive leadership roles in the Illinois Staff Physician Recruiters association and has participated in numerous committees.