The Rush University System for Health (RUSH) Board of Trustees today announced news of a planned transition of the executive leadership of RUSH.
Effective July 1, 2022, Dr. Omar Lateef will serve in the system-wide role of president and CEO of RUSH, while continuing as president and CEO of RUSH University Medical Center. Dr. Ranga Krishnan will serve as senior advisor to the CEO.
RUSH includes RUSH University Medical Center, RUSH University, RUSH Oak Park Hospital, RUSH Copley Medical Center and RUSH Health. Dr. Lateef’s RUSH University Medical Center CEO role will not be replaced.
In the spring of 2019, Drs. Lateef and Krishnan took on visionary leadership roles that built upon and bolstered the organization’s standing as a top-tier institution in nearly every measurable dimension. Their partnership and leadership have positioned RUSH to advance a bold vision for the future.
“The Board and I are very confident in Dr. Lateef’s ability to take RUSH to new heights, not only in patient care, but in the way health care is delivered in the future," said Susan Crown, chairman of the RUSH and Medical Center boards. "We are deeply grateful to Dr. Krishnan for his strong foundational contributions over the last three years as RUSH CEO. RUSH was fortunate to have them both in place during these challenging recent years of the pandemic. We look forward to his valuable insight as an advisor to Dr. Lateef during this transitional period.”
These changes are the culmination of a thoughtfully planned and anticipated progression in leadership, designed to advance RUSH for success and drive for more robust integration across the entire system of hospitals, RUSH University, and an extensive provider network and numerous outpatient care facilities.
Dr. Lateef expands excellence, leading RUSH vision for the future
Under Dr. Lateef’s leadership as president and CEO of RUSH University Medical Center, the organization received unprecedented acclaim, most notably for its outstanding multi-year response to the COVID-19 pandemic. RUSH’s early COVID-19 innovations set the standard for care nationally through the deployment of early testing, an intentional focus on critically ill patients from communities hardest hit by the pandemic, and clinical advancements of treatment protocols.
In April 2021, Dr. Lateef accepted Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Medal of Honor on behalf of all the Medical Center’s health care heroes, recognizing the hospital’s extraordinary contributions to Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thanks in part to Dr. Lateef’s innovative vision, RUSH has continued to advance in quality, safety and overall performance rankings, including the following:
- A five-star rating, the highest possible, from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Twice earning top spots on the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll
- No. 16 in the U.S. and No. 56 in the world in Newsweek’s rankings
- “A” grades from The Leapfrog Group
- No. 2 in the nation in quality and accountability from Vizient, Inc.; No. 1 in 2019; and within the top five for eight consecutive years.
“This is a pivotal time in the history of the organization, and in the world,” said Dr. Omar Lateef. “We have great opportunities ahead of us to make positive change happen in our communities, in our patients’ lives and in the way we care for one another. But it will not be without challenges. I have no doubt that together as a system, we will continue to set the bar high and overcome those challenges. I humbly thank Dr. Krishnan for his extraordinary insights and leadership these last three years, and I am grateful he will continue to share his expertise with me and the RUSH Board.”
Dr. Lateef’s tenure with RUSH began with a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at RUSH University Medical Center in 2005. Prior to leading the Medical Center, he served as its chief medical officer.
Learn more about Dr. Omar Lateef’s achievements here.
Dr. Krishnan built a strong foundation, bolstered academic focus
In May 2019, Dr. Krishnan stepped up to serve as CEO of RUSH, delivering strong leadership and an unwavering commitment to RUSH during a critical time in the organization’s history. His flagship accomplishments include significant service line expansion and increased multidisciplinary clinical collaboration.
During his tenure, Dr. Krishnan played a pivotal role in the advancement of RUSH University’s medical education curriculum and restructured RUSH’s innovation and technology strategy to forge partnerships that expand access to RUSH’s quality care. Among Dr. Krishnan’s successes is the reinvigoration of RUSH Health, an innovative health care model that brings together private practice, employed physicians and other hospitals to become an engine of future growth for RUSH.
Several additional ventures to expand access established during Dr. Krishnan’s tenure are the following:
- Our alliance with Select Medical extends our ability to care for patients with longer-term critical illness and those who need inpatient rehabilitation and physical therapy.
- Our affiliation with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago improves access to high-quality and complex pediatric care, including outpatient services on the West Side of Chicago.
- Co-sourcing with R1 to improve revenue management. RUSH entered into a strategic partnership to achieve revenue cycle performance excellence and accelerate innovation in health care.
- Labcorp entered into a comprehensive partnership with RUSH to serve as the primary lab for Chicago-based hospitals and physicians in the RUSH network.
- RUSH and DispatchHealth entered an innovative collaboration to bring high-quality, in-home medical care to health care consumers across the Chicago area.
Dr. Krishnan has also been instrumental in expanding the use of innovative technologies to improve outcomes. Our alliance with Tempus — a Chicago-based technology company with expertise in gene sequencing and analysis — is focused on identifying potentially relevant genetic patterns to advance the treatment therapies for cancer patients.
“It has been a great honor to be a part of the RUSH community these last seven years, and to have helped lead this dynamic and compassionate organization forward as a destination for the best medical care in the world and as the home of one of the nation's leading health sciences universities,” said Dr. Krishnan.
The leadership transition will be effective July 1, 2022.
