Healthcare Leader Joins University of Maryland Medical System in Driving Efforts to Achieve Equitable Care

Tiffany M. Wiggins, MD, MPH, FACOG joined the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) in early March as Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer, bringing invaluable policy, public health, and clinical experience that will strengthen the System’s focus on advancing health equity in Maryland. 

Healthcare rapidly evolves; yet underlying health inequities by race, ethnicity, geography, and other factors persist. The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) team at UMMS is tackling this problem with a focus on institutional core values and a strong commitment to closing gaps in patient outcomes and experiences across the System. 

“This is a transformative time in healthcare, and we recognize UMMS’ pivotal role in contributing to a healthy Maryland,” said Mohan Suntha, MD, MBA, the System’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to add to our team a remarkable physician leader who brings deep expertise and passion in the pursuit of health equity.” 

Her new role represents a homecoming for Dr. Wiggins as she previously delivered women’s health care part-time with the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center. “I am very excited to return to UMMS as a member of the leadership team and be part of a health system that reaches communities across the state,” Dr. Wiggins said. “I look forward to helping lead efforts to advance health equity in an environment of continued learning, growth, and innovation, and to supporting the organization’s mission of delivering a ‘better state of care’ in pursuit of optimal health for all people.”

Dr. Wiggins joins UMMS after serving as a medical officer with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and maternal health advisor with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A former White House Fellow and Medical Justice in Advocacy Fellow, she spent nearly a decade in the federal government leveraging her background as an obstetrician-gynecologist, preventive medicine physician, and health equity leader to improve maternal, child, and overall population health. Most recently, she was instrumental in spearheading the establishment of CMS’s first-ever hospital designation – “Birthing-Friendly” – to promote maternity care quality and in furthering broader agency goals around health equity, quality, and safety. 

A resident of Baltimore City with her husband and two daughters, Dr. Wiggins’ work will be in service to many of her neighbors. As Chief Health Equity Officer, she will oversee an innovative, people-centered portfolio, including data-driven initiatives to identify and address inequities in care delivery. She will lead health equity strategic planning currently underway across the System. Her focus will also include exploring UMMS’ use of race-based clinical care algorithms as well as supporting its efforts to advance health equity at the state level.

“Her breadth of experience, including years of work on maternal health inequities, will be a significant asset as we continue pursuing equity in patient care for the communities we serve,” said Roderick K. King, MD, MPH, Senior Vice President and Chief Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Officer for UMMS. 

Dr. Wiggins completed her dual residency training with Johns Hopkins Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Science with a Spanish Citation and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Harvard Medical School, and earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 

About the University of Maryland Medical System

The University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) is an academic private health system, focused on delivering compassionate, high quality care and putting discovery and innovation into practice at the bedside. Partnering with the University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Nursing and University of Maryland, Baltimore who educate the state’s future health care professionals, UMMS is an integrated network of care, delivering 25 percent of all hospital care in urban, suburban and rural communities across the state of Maryland. UMMS puts academic medicine within reach through primary and specialty care delivered at 11 hospitals, including the flagship University of Maryland Medical Center, the System’s anchor institution in downtown Baltimore, as well as through a network of University of Maryland Urgent Care centers and more than 150 other locations in 13 counties. For more information, visit www.umms.org.