Henry Ford Health System Welcomes New Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Following a national search, Henry Ford Health System has selected Carladenise Edwards as senior vice president and chief strategy officer for the health system. An accomplished C-suite executive with nearly three decades of healthcare, nonprofit and government experience, Edwards will join Henry Ford on July 13, 2020. She will provide executive counsel and leadership for the system’s strategic planning efforts and partnership ventures, business development and transformation initiatives, government affairs, as well as Henry Ford Innovations, the health system’s multi-disciplinary team responsible for product design and commercialization, technology transfer, licensing agreements and international programs.

“This is truly a pivotal moment in the healthcare industry,” said Wright Lassiter III, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health System. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created both extraordinary challenges and unprecedented opportunities for leaders like Henry Ford to accelerate transformation and increase access to care. A trusted and experienced strategic advisor, Carladenise brings a demonstrated ability to help organizations achieve the kind of optimal growth and performance that really enables them to better serve their customers.”

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“I’m honored to become part of an internationally renowned, mission driven organization like Henry Ford, especially at a time when our communities need us the most,” said Edwards. “Being part of a team with a shared vision to harness technology, innovation and scientific advancements to create clinical and economic value in a way that makes a tangible difference in the health of the community – especially our most vulnerable populations – is exciting and quite humbling.”

Edwards comes to Henry Ford from Providence St. Joseph Health, a $24 billion Catholic health system headquartered in Renton, WA, where she serves as executive vice president and chief strategy officer. Previously, she served as chief administrative officer for Providence Health & Services’ Population Health division and was instrumental in the 2016 merger with St. Joseph Health. She spearheaded integration and alignment efforts and built the payer and provider contracting division before being promoted to lead strategy for the newly formed organization comprising 51 hospitals and 800+ clinics across seven states.

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Additionally, Edwards was chief strategy officer for Alameda Health System in Oakland, CA, where she served alongside Lassiter when he was CEO of the $850 million public hospital system. An expert in the intersection between healthcare and technology, Edwards also held leadership roles including founding president and CEO of a nonprofit corporation, which governed California’s electronic Health Information Exchange and interim commissioner, chief of staff and state health information technology coordinator for Georgia’s Department of Community Health. She also advised multiple healthcare, technology and nonprofit clients as principal advisor and CEO with a Florida based consulting firm.

Rooted in a strong commitment to service, Edwards has served on several boards, including University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing, Seattle-based College Success Foundation and Heluna Health, a not-for-profit population health company headquartered in California.

She has a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology from the University of Florida. She earned her master’s degree in Education and Psychological Services and bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

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