Kevin E. Lofton, a champion of healthy communities throughout a distinguished career spanning more than four decades, is the CEO of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives. His passion stems from a life-long commitment to social justice and health equity for all – particularly those who are underserved and vulnerable. His passion in these areas was formed by his experiences growing up in New York City, his early career work as an emergency department administrator in Jacksonville, Fla., and his role as a caretaker for his mother after she became ill, seeing her as a patient and confronting the many challenges she faced.
The veteran health care executive, innovator and strategist has served since 2003 as the CEO of CHI, the nation’s third-largest nonprofit health system, with 100 hospitals and hundreds of other health care facilities and outreach programs in 17 states. CHI, which employs nearly 94,000 people, generated annual revenues in the 2016 fiscal year of almost $16 billion – and provided approximately $1.1 billion in charity care and community benefit.
Prior to joining CHI, Lofton served as CEO of two university hospitals, and chief operating officer of a third. His diverse board service has included membership on health system, medical school, bioscience, retail, professional association, civil rights and community-based boards.
Lofton is a nationally recognized industry leader who served in 2007 as chairman of the board of trustees of the American Hospital Association, the nation’s largest hospital trade association. He was instrumental in creating the organization’s Equity of Care initiative, which was formed in 2008 to help address disparities in care for ethnic and racial minorities. His wide-ranging background includes key leadership positions in public, university, community and faith-based health systems, providing him a unique perspective on a highly complicated and fragmented industry.
For his leadership and management accomplishments, Lofton has been named to Modern Healthcare magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” list 12 times. He was also included in the 2007 Ebony magazine “150 Most Influential Blacks in America.”