CommonSpirit Health has Appointed Terika Richardson as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Effective December 11, 2023

CHICAGO – December 8, 2023  - CommonSpirit Health has selected Terika Richardson as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, effective December 11, 2023. Richardson will serve as a member of the organization’s Executive Leadership Team and report to CEO Wright Lassiter III.

Richardson joins CommonSpirit with extensive executive operations experience and a rare blend of nonprofit and for profit as well as faith-based health care. As the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, she will provide both strategic and operations-related leadership, ensuring optimal operating effectiveness for the organization and its operating regions. Richardson will help drive opportunities to innovate the system and lead the organization’s efforts to achieve its growth targets related to revenue and market share, identify opportunities for growth in our operating regions, support regional executives and local leaders in pursuit of their goals and objectives, and help identify and implement physician alignment strategies to reach our quality and patient safety goals.

“Terika’s experience in optimizing care delivery systems and commitment to innovation make her a valuable addition to the CommonSpirit Health Executive Leadership Team and to our organization,” said CommonSpirit Health CEO Wright Lassiter III. “I look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder with Terika to ensure that the care we provide our communities meets their needs today, tomorrow and for years to come.”

Prior to joining CommonSpirit, Richardson served as the Chief Operating Officer at Ardent Health Services in Tennessee, providing operational oversight of the system’s 30 hospitals and 200 care sites. While there, she realigned the service portfolio to better meet the needs of the communities the system served as well as the system’s overarching business priorities. Richardson also served as the president of Advocate Health Care’s Chicagoland market as well as the president of two of the health system’s hospitals, Lutheran General and Trinity/South Suburban. She also spent 14 years with HCA holding various leadership positions. 

“CommonSpirit Health provides exceptional care in communities across this country, all with unique needs,” said Richardson. “I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues and teammates to make our care even more relevant to the needs of our communities and in ensuring that we are fully optimizing all of our systems and resources to deliver expert, quality care every day.”

Richardson received both a bachelor’s degree and a Master’s Degree of Public Health from the University of Michigan. She has twice been acknowledged as one of Modern Healthcare’s “Top 25 Minority Executives” and is the recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives (Chicago Chapter) - Young Healthcare Executive Award. Richardson currently serves on the American Hospital Association (AHA)’s Board of Trustees and is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. She has served on other AHA committees and as a regent-at-large for the American College of Healthcare Executives.