Eugene A. Woods

Eugene A. Woods, MBA, MHA, FACHE, is Chief Executive Officer of Advocate Health. He was most recently president and CEO of Atrium Health, one of the largest non-profit and leading academic health systems in the United States, with over 70,000 teammates serving patients at 40 hospitals and more than 1,400 care locations. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health provides care as Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as Atrium Health Navicent and Atrium Health Floyd in Georgia and Alabama. Additionally, the nationally renowned Wake Forest University School of Medicine serves as the academic core of Atrium Health, with campuses located in both Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

Woods joined Atrium Health in abril de 2016, and, during his tenure, Atrium Health has been recognized as one of the Best Employers for Diversity, for New Grads, for Veterans and for Women by Forbes; number one on the list of Best Places to Work for Women & Diverse Managers by DiversityMBA; and one of the 150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare by Becker’s Healthcare. In addition, the organization has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report, Leapfrog Group and the American Nurses Credentialing Center as among the very best in the nation; was honored by the American Hospital Association with the Equity of Care Award; and was one of the first-ever Quest for Quality honors for its Rehabilitation Hospital. Atrium Health was also recognized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as a CMS Health Equity Award recipient for its dedication to health equity by reducing disparities and enabling communities to achieve the highest level of health.

One of today’s most prominent leaders in health care, Woods is the author of Health, Hope, and Healing for All: Toward More Equitable and Affordable Healthcare, which draws on his 30 years of health care experience to share challenges the health care sector faces and offer actionable prescriptions to build a brighter future. He served as past chair of the American Hospital Association board of trustees in 2017 and served on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, including chairing the board in 2022. Woods is currently a member of the Healthcare Institute, the Becker’s Healthcare’s Advisory Board, the board of Best Buy, the board of Johnson C. Smith University and the Executive Committee of the Healthcare Leadership Council. Woods also was appointed to the North Carolina Council for Health Care Coverage, the North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s Economic Recovery Task Force, as well as the Governor’s Andrea Harris Social, Economic, Environmental and Health Equity Task Force to help address disparities in communities of color that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.

Woods’ career is decorated with many honors. This includes his recent recognitions as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare and one of the Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare – as well as being one of only five “Luminaries” honored for their career-defining work in reshaping the industry – by Modern Healthcare. Recently, he was named as the recipient of the National Center for Healthcare Leadership’s 2022 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award. He was also recognized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense with the highly regarded Patriot Award for supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Forces. Additionally, he has been named as the 2022 Luminary Award honoree by the Charlotte Post Foundation; #1 on the 2022 Power 100 List, 2021 Most Admired CEO and one of 50 Newsmakers of the Year, all by Charlotte Business Journal; one of Charlotte’s Most Powerful People by Axios; Healthcare Pioneer for Black History Month 2021 by Governor Roy Cooper and the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission; the recipient of the MASKED Award (Mankind Assisting Students Kindle Educational Dreams) by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF); and the recipient of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. award for service to the state of North Carolina by the Urban League of Central Carolinas.

In previous years, Woods was recognized as the Business Person of the Year by Charlotte Business Journal; the Distinguished 400 Award recipient by the 400 Years of African American History Commission; one of the 50 Great African American Leaders as well as one of 113 Great Leaders in Healthcare by Becker’s Healthcare; one of the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine; one of the Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America by Black Enterprise; one of the Power 100 honorees by Business North Carolina; Senior Executive of the Year by the National Association of Health Service Executives; and Alumni of the Year by Pennsylvania State University.

Woods holds three degrees from Pennsylvania State University: a bachelor’s degree in health planning and administration, a master’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in health administration.