CHICAGO – Angelique Richard, PhD, RN, CENP, has been selected for the 2022 class of the Carol Emmott Fellowship, which aims to decrease disparities for women in upper-level health care leadership. Richard — senior vice president of hospital operations for Rush University Medical Center and chief nursing officer for the Medical Center and Rush University System for Health — is among 22 fellows who were announced on Nov. 4.
Though women dominate the non-managerial and mid-level health care workforce and comprise half the enrollment in medical schools in the United States, they are underrepresented in senior executive and board-level positions in health care. This inequity deprives the fields of health and medicine of the full range of talents, skills and perspectives that gender parity affords. Research has shown that leadership and mentoring help women reach more senior positions and can close gaps in pay as well.
To help shape a growing network of remarkable women in the top ranks of leadership, Rush University Medical Center is among the sponsors of the Emmott fellows.
"At Rush, we know that diversity is needed at every level of the organization in order to best represent the communities we serve and provide the highest quality care," says Dr. Omar Lateef, CEO of Rush University Medical Center and president of Rush University System for Health. "We are proud to be a founding sponsor of the Carol Emmott Fellowship and will continue to work toward greater gender diversity in leadership roles."
In addition to being a sponsor of the Emmott Fellowships, Rush’s initiatives to advance the role of women include the Center for the Advancement of Women in Health Care at Rush, the Rush Women Mentoring Program, and the Office of Women's Professional Advancement.
From nursing assistant to nursing leader
A nationally recognized leader in nursing and health care, Richard began her career at Rush as a nursing assistant at what was then Rush Presbyterian–Saint Luke’s Medical Center.
She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing at the Rush University College of Nursing; worked as a staff nurse and assistant unit director on the Medical Center’s bone marrow transplant unit; and was a faculty member at Rush University.
After holding senior nursing and hospital operations leadership positions at several other leading health care organizations, Richard returned to Rush in 2016. She has served as chief nursing officer for Rush University Medical Center since then and for the Rush system since 2018, and as senior vice president of hospital operations for the Medical Center since 2019.
In these roles, she provides administrative oversight and accountability for professional nursing practice and hospital operations.
Making an impact
Emmott fellows are nominated by their sponsoring organization and compete for acceptance into the program with a proposed impact project that transcends their current role to advance an area of health. During the 14-month fellowship program, they continue to work for their organizations as they implement their impact projects.
Richard joins other women leaders at Rush who have been Emmott fellows, including Cynthia Boyd, MD, MBA; and Richa Gupta, MBBS, MHSA (class of 2017); Monica Kogan, MD, and Haimanot (Monnie) Wasse, MD, MPH (2018); Sheila Dugan, MD (2019); and Courtney Kammer, MHA (2020).
“As our country continues to confront alarming injustices in all aspects of health, work and society, we need diverse women executives who will lead the health care industry,” said Anne McCune, CEO of the Carol Emmott Foundation, which sponsor the fellowships. “We are a national movement of women and allies who are doing just that.”
The fellowship reflects the life work of Carol B. Emmott (1946-2015), who throughout her 40-year career in health policy and executive search was instrumental in and dedicated to the rise of women to the upper echelons of the health sector.
A full list of the 2022 fellows is available on the Carol Emmott Foundation website.