CHIME Awards 2019 Federal Public Policy CIO Leadership Title to Theresa Meadows

ANN ARBOR, MI, Sept. 26, 2019 – Theresa Meadows, senior vice president and CIO at Cook Children’s Health Care System and co-chair of an influential federal cybersecurity task force, was named winner of the 2019 Federal Public Policy Award for CIO Leadership, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) announced today. The award is given annually to a CHIME member who has demonstrated leadership in educating Congress and administration officials at the federal level about the value of health IT and its role in patient care.

 

Meadows is a former CHIME Board of Trustees member, co-chair of the Health and Human Services (HHS) Healthcare Cybersecurity Task Force, vice chair of the Health Sector Council Cybersecurity Working Group and a member of the Malcolm Baldrige Board of Overseers. Under her leadership, the task force researched and made recommendations for improving the healthcare sector’s cybersecurity, which were then published in a 2017 report. As vice chair of the working group, she is leading efforts to provide resources that allow organizations to carry out those recommendations.

 

“Theresa’s work in public policy is having a deep impact on health and care in our country,” said Russell Branzell, CHIME’s president and CEO. “Cybersecurity is a growing concern, with hospitals and health systems increasingly under attack. The work Theresa and her teams have done in Washington to help all organizations – from small, rural and under resourced providers to multistate networks – means we are all stronger, safer and better able to protect patients from these persistent threats.”

 

“It is a privilege to work with so many talented and dedicated people, both through the federal groups and through CHIME,” Meadows said. “I am honored that my colleagues have selected me for this award, and that CHIME places so much value in our public policy efforts.” 

 

Meadows is a registered nurse with a master’s degree in healthcare informatics. She leads a team of more than 350 employees who support infrastructure, applications, telecommunications and project management at the Fort Worth-based Cook Children’s Health Care System. Under her leadership, Cook Children’s has received numerous awards, including a 2019 CHIME HealthCare’s Most Wired Performance Excellence Award. She has made the list of “Most Powerful Women in Health IT” from 2016 through 2019. She is also a CHIME fellow, an alumni and faculty member of the CHIME Healthcare CIO Boot Camp™, a faculty member of the newly launched CHIME AEHIS CISO Boot Camp and a Certified Healthcare CIO (CHCIO).

 

The 2019 Federal Public Policy Award for CIO Leadership is announced in conjunction with National Health IT Week and will be presented during the 2019 CHIME Fall CIO Forum, which will take place Nov. 3-6 in Phoenix.

 

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs) and other senior healthcare IT leaders. With more than 2,900 members in 56 countries and over 150 healthcare IT business partners and professional services firms, CHIME provides a highly interactive, trusted environment enabling senior professional and industry leaders to collaborate; exchange best practices; address professional development needs; and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care in the communities they serve. For more information, please visit chimecentral.org.

 

Candace Stuart

Director of Communications and Public Relations, CHIME

734.665.0000