Urban Healthcare: Challenges and Solutions

Karen Teitelbaum is the President/Chief Executive Officer at Sinai Health System, an urban, teaching healthcare system comprised of four hospitals, an epidemiological research institute focusing on healthcare disparities, a community institute with over 15 distinct programs, over 800 medical staff members, and 3,600 employees. Focused on the delivery of high quality services in an efficient and cost effective manner, Sinai Health System has achieved national recognition in quality while reducing costs by millions of dollars due to greater efficiency and management of population health.

In addition to her current board service, Karen has served on the boards of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, Family Health Network, the Theraplay Institute, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Foundation, and the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School. She was a member of the American Hospital Association Task Force on Ensuring Access for Vulnerable Communities, has been a member of the American Hospital Association Council on Maternal Fetal Health, and chaired the Building Committee for a significant Federally Qualified Healthcare Center. She is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network, and the Commercial Club of Chicago.

She was the 2018 recipient of the “Woman of Science” award from the Weizmann Institute, the “Leadership in Healthcare Administration” from the National Medical Fellowship Association, and has been named one of Crain’s “Chicago Notable Women in Healthcare” and “130 Nonprofit Hospital & Health System CEOs to Know” by Becker´s Hospital Review. Karen has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in managed care and marketing/strategy for nonprofit organizations, and is a frequently requested national speaker on healthcare delivery topics such as population health management in an urban environment.

Neil Steinberg is a columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he has been on staff since 1987. He has also written for many publications, including Esquire, Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Granta and The New York Daily News. The author of eight books, the last two published by the University of Chicago Press, he's written countless medical stories, including longform features for Mosaic, the London website of health and science run by the Wellcome Trust, the largest medical charity in the world.