Healthcare has always been powered by women. From nuns, midwives, nurses, and scientists who shaped the earliest hospitals to clinicians, administrators, and innovators transforming care today, women have long been the backbone of this industry. Globally, women make up nearly 70% of the healthcare workforce. Yet despite their outsized presence, they hold just 25% of senior roles.
At Ascension, the legacy of women in healthcare stretches back more than 800 years to The Sisters of St. Joseph, a founding congregation formed to meet the healthcare, education, and social service needs of their communities. That legacy continues today: 44% of Ascension’s Executive Leadership Team positions are held by women — 19% higher than the industry average.
At Ascension, the impact of women leaders reaches from hospital rooms to boardrooms, from local communities to national policy conversations. This Women’s History Month, we honor not only the progress made, but the work ahead: building a healthcare system where leadership reflects the workforce and the communities we serve.
Amber Sims has spent more than two decades helping Ascension imagine what’s next and build the roadmap to get there.
Since joining the organization in 2000, Amber has grown alongside Ascension, leading market strategy, physician enterprise and ambulatory development, and transformational growth initiatives. Today, she leads Ascension’s strategy and growth agenda.
Carol Campbell’s career has been defined by a simple but powerful belief: great experiences don’t happen by accident, they’re intentionally designed.
As Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer for Ascension, Carol leads the organization’s efforts to deliver differentiated, human-centered experiences for patients and families across the system. With a unique background at globally recognized customer-service organizations, Carol applies proven principles of design, consistency, and hospitality to reimagine what compassionate, high-quality care can look like.
Christine “Chris” Kocot McCoy has built her career at the intersection of law, leadership, and public trust.
Since joining Ascension in 2004, Chris has become a steady strategic voice during moments of transformation. She now oversees legal, compliance, risk and insurance, government affairs and policy, public affairs, external communications, and sponsor relations — guiding the organization through complex regulatory landscapes with clarity and integrity.
Michelle Kohler’s work is rooted in a commitment to invest deeply in people.
As Executive Vice President, Human Resources, and Chief Human Resources Officer for Ascension, she leads enterprise-wide strategies that elevate organizational effectiveness and enhance the associate experience through intentional listening and communication strategies to identify and remove the barriers, allowing associates to focus on delivering Ascension’s Mission.
Sally Deitch’s leadership journey began at the bedside and that perspective still guides her every decision.
In less than 15 years, she rose from first-year nurse to hospital CEO. Today she maintains executive responsibility for several pivotal domains. She directs Ascension's nursing practice, operations and regulatory adherence across all care settings. Her leadership also encompasses Ascension Technologies, The Resource Group, Strategic Integration, Ascension Employed Clinical Network (AECN) Operations, Planning, Design & Construction (PDC), Real Estate, Safety & Emergency Management, Command Center and Energy & Sustainability. Ensuring a cohesive strategy across Ascension’s hospitals and ambulatory facilities, thereby promoting alignment, collaboration and consistent operational execution.
Dr. Stacy Garrett-Ray’s career is defined by advocacy in action.
From direct patient care to large-scale systems change, she has dedicated her life’s work to expanding compassionate healthcare for communities that have too often been left behind. As Chief Community Impact Officer for Ascension, she leads strategies to improve health outcomes for our patients and communities across Ascension’s footprint, serving more than one million patients each year who are uninsured or covered by Medicaid.
