Kevin E. Lofton, a champion of healthy communities throughout a distinguished career spanning more than four decades, retired as the CEO of Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health in June, 2020. He led Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) into the creation of the $30 billion revenue CSH, one the largest health systems in the country. His passion stems from a life-long commitment to social justice and health equity for all – particularly those who are under-served and vulnerable. His passion in these areas was formed by his experiences growing up in New York City, his early career work as an emergency department administrator in Jacksonville, Fla., and his role as a caretaker for his mother after she became ill, seeing her as a patient and confronting the many challenges she faced.The veteran health care executive, innovator and strategist served from 2003 to 2019 as the CEO of CHI, with $16 billion in revenue and 100 hospitals and hundreds of other health care facilities and outreach programs in 18 states. Prior to joining CHI, Lofton served as CEO of two university hospitals, and chief operating officer of a third. His diverse board service has included membership on health system, universities, medical schools, bioscience, retail, medical device, professional associations, civil rights and community-based boards. He currently serves as an Independent Director at Medtronic, plc. He is also on the Howard University Board, and is Chairman of the Georgia State University Foundation Board. He formerly served on the boards of Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he was the Lead Independent Director, Rite Aid, Corp and Morehouse School of Medicine.Lofton is a nationally recognized industry leader who served in 2007 as chairman of the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association, the nation’s largest hospital trade association. He was instrumental in creating the organization’s Equity of Care initiative, which was formed in 2008 to help address disparities in care for ethnic and racial minorities. His wide-ranging background includes key leadership positions in public, university, community and faith-based health systems, providing him a unique perspective on a highly complicated and fragmented industry.Lofton is Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of the Lofton Institute to ELEVATE Health System Leaders, Inc., an organization founded in 2022 designed to teach and mentor talented health care leaders to help prepare them for CEO roles in national and large regional health systems across the US. In September, 2024, ELEVATE will have graduated 24 leaders.