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Dr. Garth Walker
Dr. Walker is a healthcare executive and board-certified emergency physician with broad experience spanning state, federal, and private sectors. He is recognized as a healthcare and public health thought leader, with insights featured by major news networks including MSNBC, the Chicago Sun-Times, and ABC.
As the chief medical officer for Rush Health, Dr. Walker leads a clinically integrated network of physicians and hospitals, committed to delivering high-quality, efficient care to over 160,000 attributed patients across the Chicagoland area. He oversees the strategic direction and growth of value-based care initiatives, supporting financial sustainability across the Rush Health System. His efforts focus on improving population health through standardization, evidence-based quality care, and a strong emphasis on chronic disease management and health equity.
Previously, Dr. Walker served as the deputy director at the Illinois Department of Public Health during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this role, he advanced internal and external public health strategies to increase vaccination rates, directed vaccine operations across state departments, and improved men’s health and opioid response initiatives throughout Illinois. Later, Dr. Walker was appointed by President Biden as a White House fellow with the Department of Health and Human Services, working under Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.
Dr. Walker is also an accomplished academic, with first-author publications on social determinants of health, firearm injury, and healthcare communication. His work received runner-up honors for a top paper in the Journal of Healthcare Management, and he reviews for several prominent scientific journals, including JAMA, Annals of Emergency Medicine, and Public Health Reports.
A committed civic leader, Dr. Walker serves on the boards of mHUB, Thresholds, and the Chicago Urban League. He was appointed by Governor Pritzker to the Illinois Board of Higher Education and is an alumnus of the Urban League IMPACT program and Leadership Greater Chicago. He is also a member of the Economic Club of Chicago and a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr. Walker’s contributions have earned him numerous awards, including Crain's Chicago Business "40 Under 40," Modern Healthcare "40 under 40", the National Minority Quality Forum "40 Under 40," and the University of Illinois College of Medicine's Alumnus of the Year.