The primary care provider and assistant professor at Meharry Medical College and senior VP of health equity and diversity initiatives at ASTHO received the RISE Health Care Hero Award on Wednesday, April 17 at The RISE Summit on Social Determinants of Health in New Orleans.
RISE is pleased to announce that Dr. Kimberlee Etheridge, primary care provider and assistant professor, Meharry Medical College; sr. VP health equity and diversity initiatives, ASTHO, is this year’s winner of the RISE Health Care Hero Award.
The Health Care Hero Award is a prestigious award presented at The RISE Summit on Social Determinants of Health that acknowledges an individual’s effort to make a significant impact on the lives of underserved populations through health care and/or social services interventions, and through superior example of the RISE mission to promote health equity among all patients.
RISE received a total of 59 nominations for this year’s award. The field was narrowed to five finalists: Dr. Etheridge; Cristina Conlon, care navigator, ReferWell; Tiffany Davis, executive director quality improvement and health equity, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois – HCSC; Sirene Garcia, CIO, Finger Lakes Community Health; and Megan Shreve, CEO, South Central Community Action Programs, Inc.
Rick Whitted, CEO, U.S. Hunger, and the 2023 Health Care Hero award recipient, presented the award to Dr. Etheridge, who was selected for her work as an adolescent provider for the pediatric department at Meharry Medical College; her work teaching first-year medical students; her involvement in her community providing education and services to pregnant women and recently delivered families to increase infant and maternal vitality; and her work promoting health equity on the national level with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
Dr. Etheridge’s nomination highlighted just how extensive her work to support underserved populations has been over the years: a fatherhood program as a maternal health initiative to address the absence of fathers in the most at-risk households; state-policy work to positively impact health equity; the establishment of a health equity training certificate and lectures across the country; community health events connecting medical students with the community members who may one day be their patients; the establishment of the GIRLS powered by STEAM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Arts/Math) program to introduce and keep girls of color interested in math, science, and art in middle school and high school; and the Teens to Queens program, a workshop for girls and their maternal figures to learn to communicate, dream, and understand their health.
“When asked, Dr. Kim will say that there is still much work to be done,” wrote Dr. Allysceaeioun D Britt, in the nomination. “She admits that she may not see the achievement of health equity in her career, but she is confident that the many students and individuals she has touched, will carry the torch forward, reaching for optimal health outcomes for all.”
Nominations are being accepted for the 2025 award. Nominations must be submitted by December 31, 2024. The award will be presented at The RISE Summit on Social Determinants of Health. The 2025 date and location are forthcoming.