Former Chief Community Health Officer, Bon Secours Mercy Health
Samuel Ross, M.D., M.S., is a healthcare leader with more than thirty-five years of experience as a physician, Chief Community Health Officer, Health System President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Dr. Ross recently retired from Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH), one of the largest healthcare systems in the nation. BSMH owns and operates health care facilities in Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, New York, South Carolina, Virginia and Florida. Ross led the health system’s Community Health division, with focus on community benefit\investment, community engagement\outreach and implementing priorities of Community Health Needs Assessments in 7 states, as well as overseeing the global ministry outreach in Haiti, Peru and South Sudan.
Prior to joining Bon Secours Mercy Health, Dr. Ross was also President, Bon Secours Baltimore Health System. As President, he managed an acute care hospital in the heart of West Baltimore and a vast network of community outreach divisions that focus on programs that impact social determinants of health, i.e., housing, education, job skills, behavioral health, substance abuse and rehabilitation. He is a tireless and passionate advocate for improving health disparities and access to care in communities.
Because of his commitment and expertise on social determinants Dr. Ross is a frequently sought-after speaker, locally and nationally. He has presented at annual events for The Democracy Collaborative, Meeting of the Minds, Neighbor Works, America’s Essential Hospitals, Alliance for Health Policy, National Association of Health Services Executives, and others.
Officially retired on December 31, 2021, Ross continues to serve on several boards – Bon Secours Baltimore Community Works\Unity properties\Foundation, Mercy Housing national board, and SSM Health Ministry and SSM Health Care Corporate.
Dr. Ross has had a dynamic career in service as a healthcare executive. He is a past member of the Maryland Hospital Association Executive Committee, where he served as Vice-Chair. He also previously chaired the Women/Minority Business Initiative. He served as Board Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Baltimore branch, and is the immediate past Board Chair for 340B Health. Dr. Ross also served as a Board Member for America’s Essential Hospitals, chairing the Membership Committee.
In the March 2018 issue of Becker’s Hospital Review, Dr. Ross was named one of 50 great African American leaders in healthcare to know. He was recognized by The Daily Record in 2013 as one of the Top 20 Most Admired CEOs in Maryland. Dr. Ross has received recognitions by the National Association of Health Services Executive – Washington Metropolitan Area Chapter Healthcare Leader honoree; Greater Baltimore Committee Leadership Program, a finalist for the 2013 Sondheim Exemplary Leadership Award; Smart CEO, 2013 Circle of Excellence Awards finalist (Healthcare),
and he was named in the May 2012 issue of Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of the nation’s Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare.
In 2018 he was appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism. He served on the Baltimore City Police Commissioner’s African American Advisory Council, the board of Behavioral Health System Baltimore, and in 2015 he co-chaired the Mayor’s Heroin Treatment and Prevention Task Force.
In 2014, Bon Secours and sixteen (16) other west Baltimore partners (West Baltimore Primary Care Access Collaborative) were awarded one of five Health Enterprise Zone designations by the state of Maryland. Their focus was on reduction of health disparities in low-income populations and population health management through impacts on the social determinants of health.
Prior to his arrival to Baltimore and Bon Secours, Dr. Ross was a member of the staff of Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, Texas where he served in varied positions for over 14 years including: Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer of the Medical Staff/House Staff Division.