Dr. Cheryl Whitaker
Chief Executive Officer
Next Level Health
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Dr. Cheryl Whitaker is a 20-year veteran health care professional who has dedicated her career to finding innovative health care solutions for underserved populations. She has extensive experience in health care information technology, leveraging I.T. solutions toward better quality care for patients. Most recently, Whitaker served as the chief medical officer of a publicly traded health information technology company where she guided product strategy. In 2011, she was appointed to serve as the inaugural chair of the Illinois Health Information Exchange Authority, where she guided the state’s effort to create secure data exchange for health information.
Prior to that, Whitaker worked as a senior program officer for the Chicago Community Trust, which for the past century has connected donors to organizations working to improve metropolitan Chicago. She oversaw the grant strategy for all health-related grants given by the Trust, including efforts related to healthcare reform and the health information exchange.
Whitaker also served as a faculty member at Rush University Medical Center, where she earned additional certification as a clinical hypertension specialist and numerous grants to help the medical industry understand the needs of marginal populations living with chronic conditions. The Stanford Patient Education and Research Center certified her as a master trainer in self-management of chronic disease.
In her position as chair and CEO of NextLevel Health, Whitaker provides strategic direction to the executive leadership team, focusing on altering the care delivery system by bringing the “medical home” to the “member’s home.” Whitaker earned her bachelor of science in biology from Emory University and a medical degree from the Washington University School of Medicine. She has a master of public health from the Harvard School of Public Health with a concentration in health policy and management. Her clinical training in primary care internal medicine was completed at Stanford University and the University of California San Francisco.
Whitaker’s medical training focused on the care of diverse populations in the Bay area, which included immigrant populations from across the world, HIV-positive populations, as well as populations struggling with addiction, poverty and mental illness. Whitaker also completed a fellowship in health services research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Whitaker is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, a former member of the advisory board for Northern Illinois American College of Physicians, and an appointee to the Chicago Institute of Medicine