National Philanthropy Day® Spotlight: Dr. Omar Lateef

Dr. Omar Lateef, 2021 Outstanding Community Leader Award, AFP Chicago Chapter

Dr. Omar Lateef is a leader who inspires groundbreaking and transformational change in health care, education and community outreach. He motivates others to be more engaging, honest and timely when examining the role of racism and disinvestment in health care. He is being honored by the AFP Chicago Chapter with the 2021 Outstanding Community Leader Award. 

Dr. Omar Lateef became president and CEO of Rush University Medical Center in May 2019. Under his leadership, the Medical Center received national attention for its effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, which included building a forward triage, deploying early testing, accepting critically ill patient transfers, and being one of the first health systems to offer antibody testing. In recognition of Lateef’s role in Rush’s response to the crisis, Modern Healthcare named Lateef one of 50 most influential clinical executives.

Dr. Lateef is a nationally recognized leader in the measurement of health care quality. He has worked with physicians and analysts at Rush and from academic medical centers across the nation to evaluate the driving factors and methodology of quality rankings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. News & World Report and others.

In January 2020, Lateef was invited by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to serve on the National Advisory Council for Healthcare Research and Quality of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Dr. Lateef and his colleagues have evaluated and recommended changes to the rating systems to confirm that they are accurate and a fair reflection of quality.

Prior to becoming president and CEO, Lateef was the chief medical officer. Under his leadership, Rush performed exceptionally well in rankings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. News & World Report, the Leapfrog Group, and Vizient, which, in 2019, ranked Rush University Medical Center first among 93 participating academic health systems across the nation in quality and accountability.

In 1995, Lateef earned a bachelor's degree in religious studies from the University of Florida-Gainesville. He received his medical degree from Des Moines University and completed his internship and residency at New York University Downtown Hospital. He completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Rush in 2005.

The AFP Chicago Chapter hosted its National Philanthropy Day celebration on Nov. 5. Learn more here.