Michael G. Griffin

Michael G. Griffin is leading innovation in health care locally by improving patient outcomes and the patient experience. As duel President and CEO of Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans (DCSNO) and President and CEO of Marillac Community Health Centers—Griffin runs a non-profit health care organization that has a 180 year history of service to the greater New Orleans region and is a member of Ascension Health, the largest non-profit health system in the United States, as well as Louisiana’s largest federally qualified health center. Griffin’s foremost priority is to provide access to compassionate, high-quality primary and preventive health care services to all residents of greater New Orleans, regardless of their ability to pay. Since his appointment in 2008, Griffin has provided strategic direction for the non-profit health care organization, expanding patient care from one to ten health centers, eight school based sites, and four mobile medical and dental units in communities of high need serving over 50,000 residents in the New Orleans Metropolitan area. Under Griffin’s visionary leadership, DCSNO has achieved the highest level designation for quality standards of direct patient care by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) each year since 2009. The health care organization was also named one of United Healthcare’s Centers of Excellence, garnering a $6.3 million award for the provision of the highest quality coordination of care and preventive services. In addition, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recognized DCSNO as an “exemplary model of workforce” as part of the Learning from Effective Ambulatory Practices (LEAP) project; DCSNO was one of 30 primary health care practices selected nationwide. Over his career Griffin has become an expert and leading voice in the field of patient centered care and quality, as well as envisioning health care design and excellence into the future. Griffin served as the board chair of the local coalition of safety-net providers and testified to the US Congress, Energy and Commerce committee to receive over $200 million for health care recovery after Hurricane Katrina. He has served on the health care transition teams for Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, and New Orleans Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu. He has addressed numerous national conferences and seminars to include the American Journal of Managed Care Conference on ACOs in April 2017, and facilitated the first Ascension Health National Conference on Diversity and Inclusion in 2016. Griffin also serves on the national FQHC advisory board for United Health Care, and is a frequent lecturer an advisor for several Colleges and Universities. Prior to DCSNO, Griffin held top executive positions in the health care industry. As administrator of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Center for Health Promotion in Birmingham, Alabama Griffin worked closely with University faculty, as well as federal project officers and staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to generate and manage more than $15 million in federal research grants. At the Coordinated Health System of Jefferson County, Inc. in Birmingham, Alabama Griffin served as executive director, overseeing the implementation of a public/private sector collaborative health delivery system for more than 100,000 Jefferson County uninsured residents; while there he acquired a $2 million award for coordinating uninsured care. Griffin has also served as operations manager at Seton Healthcare Network of Hospitals in Austin, Texas; administrative fellow at Daughters of Charity-East Central Region/St. Mary’s Health System in Evansville, Indiana; and administrative resident at St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a United States Army veteran and is proud to have served our country with a tour in Iraq during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Griffin serves as a trustee on several non-profit boards, including 504 Health Net where he was the former chair, the Louisiana Primary Care Association, former member of the Urban League of Louisiana, Health Care Journal of New Orleans editorial board, Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans (DCSNO), the Daughters of Charity Foundation, and the Marillac Community Health Centers Board of Directors. In 2000 Griffin revitalized the Dillard University Birmingham Alumni Chapter and served as chapter president for 4 years. In 2003 he was elected Dillard University National Alumni President where he served until 2007. From 2003- 2007, Griffin served as a Dillard University Board of Trustee member where he was a member of the Development, Building and Grounds, and Student Liaison committees. After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina Griffin Cast the winning argument to have Dillard University quickly re-establish, and rebuild back in New Orleans, and not relocate in Atlanta, Ga as some argued. Griffin has a history of service to both HBCUs and students in the field of Public Health. He has been a member of the Meharry Medical College Alumni Board of Management, and on the National Advisory Board for the Meharry Public Health Master’s Program. He currently works with Dillard University as chairman of the Public Health Advisory committee, and a member of the Blue Devil Sports Hall of Fame committee. He has advised hundreds of students on both the undergraduate and graduate levels and has mentored numerous health care professional during their career. Griffin was selected as the “Young Healthcare Executive of the Year” by the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) in 2010, a “Health Care Hero” in 2010 by New Orleans CityBusiness Magazine, an “Up and Comer” by Modern Healthcare Magazine in September 2011, and in 2012 was one of five semi-finalists for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Young Leaders Award. He was also a fellow in the inaugural class of the Norman C. Francis Leadership Institute at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana. A few of Griffin’s national and local advocacy efforts include appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Washington D.C. to offer testimony on Restoring Health Care in the New Orleans Region Post-Katrina, and speaking alongside former United States Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin to highlight primary care as one of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act in 2011. Most recently, Griffin appeared with former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and other local and state leaders in a press conference touting local efforts to enroll consumers in affordable health coverage under the Affordable Care Act prior to the March 31, 2014 enrollment deadline. In March of 2017 Griffin had the honor of hosting US House of Representatives Leader Nancy Pelosi at his facilities in New Orleans, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the launch of the Affordable Care Act. Griffin earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana and holds a Master of Science-Public Health degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Our Lady of Holy Cross University in 2014. Griffin is currently a Candidate for a Doctor of Science degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Griffin is married to Tracie Haydel Griffin, and the couple has five beautiful children: Michael II, Amelia-Grai, Victoria, Olivia and Sophia.