In her role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lakshmi Emory is responsible for the clinical operations, strategies, and programs of Aetna Better Health of Illinois, the largest of CVS Health/Aetna’s Medicaid health plans. She also serves on the Board of Directors. She has a passion for delivering innovative solutions to deal with complex health care challenges. Her focus is on improving the care of vulnerable populations.
Dr. Emory is a graduate of Dartmouth College and she concurrently earned her MD and MPH in Community Health Sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. She completed her residency at RUSH-Illinois Masonic Hospital in Chicago and is Board Certified in Family Medicine.
Dr. Emory has a particular interest in health equity, population health, maternal-child health, and healthcare transformation. She regularly lends her medical and her public health expertise for panels and media appearances, in addition to her daily responsibilities at the health plan. In October 2021, she was a featured speaker in the White House’s Virtual COVID-19 Town Hall presenting on strategies to increase vaccine confidence in the Medicaid Community. She was named a 2019 Chicago Defender Woman of Excellence and was selected for the 2022 Crain’s Notable Executives of Color in Healthcare List. She was recently honored by The National Coalition of 100 Black Women Chicago Metropolitan Chapter.