A Historic Partnership

Vulnerable populations, and specifically communities of color, face systemic differences that lead to significant and entirely avoidable obstacles to optimal health and quality of life.

These differences are rooted in social, economic, and environmental disparities which contribute to poor health outcomes, chronic disease, and premature death two times more than access to clinical care alone.

And these disparities are exacerbated by a decades-long shortfall in the training of medical professionals whose race, culture, ethnicity, and lived experience reflect those of their patients, fostering the trust and cooperation essential to optimized health outcomes.

CommonSpirit Health and the Morehouse School of Medicine have launched a historic, ten-year commitment to address the grave inequities in health, well-being, and resiliency that underserved and disadvantaged communities in America face as the result of longstanding injustices.

Together, our combined resources, influence, expertise, and experience will create a more just health care system in America that will save lives and sustain the well-being and resiliency of generations.

Morehouse School of Medicine

Morehouse School of Medicine is one of America’s leading educators of primary care physicians. Though there are 155 accredited medical schools in the U.S., the majority of the nation’s Black physicians are trained at Morehouse School of Medicine and the nation’s three other historically Black medical schools.

CommonSpirit Health

CommonSpirit Health is one of America’s largest nonprofit health systems, with 150,000 employees, 140 hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites in 21 states. Formed in 2019 through the combination of Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health, CommonSpirit is one of the leading providers for underserved communities.

2 doctors having a discussion while looking at a clipboard.

Our Leadership

Wright Lassiter III

Chief Executive Officer
CommonSpirit Health

As CommonSpirit's CEO, Wright leads one of the country’s largest and most diverse health care organizations, with a network of 140 hospitals and more than 1,500 care sites across 21 states and seven geographic divisions, and 150,000 employees.

Prior to serving as CEO of CommonSpirit, Wright was CEO of Henry Ford Health in Detroit and previously Alameda Health System in Oakland, CA. Wright is the Immediate Past Chair of the American Hospital Association, where he continues to play a key role in advancing the priorities of hospitals across the country, and was a past chair of America’s Essential Hospitals.

In 2022, Lassiter received Crain Detroit Business’ Newsmaker of the Year. In 2021, he received Crain’s Detroit Business Health Care Heroes – Corporate Achievement Award. Cited for his commitment to finding solutions, he was named “Michiganian of the Year” in 2020 by The Detroit News, as well as appearing in the 2020 “Top 10 Newsmakers” list by Crain’s Detroit Business for the second time in three years.

Lassiter received his master’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Indiana University where he graduated number one in his class and completed his bachelor’s degree with honors in Chemistry from LeMoyne College.

Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD

President & Chief Executive Officer
Morehouse School of Medicine

Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, the sixth president of Morehouse School of Medicine and the first woman to lead the freestanding medical institution, serves as both the president and CEO. A renowned infertility specialist and researcher, she most recently served as dean and executive vice president of MSM, where she has served since 2011.

Prior to joining Morehouse School of Medicine, Dr. Montgomery Rice held faculty positions and leadership roles at various health centers, including academic health centers. Most notably, she was the founding director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s first research centers devoted to studying diseases that disproportionately impact women of color.

Dr. Montgomery Rice provides a valuable combination of experience at the highest levels of patient care and medical research, as well as organizational management and public health policy. Marrying her transformational leadership acumen and strategic thinking to tackle challenging management issues, she leads Morehouse School of Medicine in training and educating clinicians, and the creation and advancement of health equity.

Veronica Mallett, M.D. MMM

Chief Administrative Officer
More in Common Alliance

Veronica Thierry Mallett M.D. MMM brings decades of health care and academic experience and a career-long commitment to eliminating health disparities to her role as Chief Administrative Officer for the More in Common Alliance.

Previously, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Meharry Medical College Ventures, a subsidiary of Meharry Medical College (“MMC”) and the Executive Director for the MMC Center for Women’s Health Research. For the prior three years she served as the Senior Vice President of Health Affairs and Dean at MMC School of Medicine, where she ran all clinical operations for the school.

Dr. Mallett has served on the faculty of various schools of medicine and has over twenty years of leadership experience, including as Fellowship Director and Residency Program Director at Wayne State University, and Director of Healthcare Excellence and Department Chair both at the University of Tennessee Memphis and Texas Tech.

As a leader, clinician, educator, and researcher, Dr. Mallett has authored over 100 articles, book chapters and abstracts combined. Dr. Mallett received her B.A. in Biology from Barnard College, her M.D. from Michigan State University and her master’s degree in Medical Management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Meghan S. Frost

System Vice President, Philanthropy and Campaigns
More in Common Alliance

Meghan S. Frost leads the philanthropic strategy and campaign for the More in Common Alliance, a historic partnership between Morehouse School of Medicine and CommonSpirit Health.

She brings 20 years of experience leading philanthropic teams to secure strategic investment to promote access, inclusion and equity in higher education and health care. Most recently, she served Creighton University as Assistant Vice President for Health Sciences development, where she exceeded Creighton’s initial goal for philanthropy at the new Arizona regional health sciences campus in partnership with CommonSpirit.

Prior to her work at Creighton, Ms. Frost held progressive leadership roles in higher education advancement at Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University. Ms. Frost began her career in academic operations with the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany under the U.S. Department of Defense. She holds a bachelor of arts in English from Washington and Jefferson College and a master of arts in Rhetoric and Communications from Ohio University.

Morehouse College and CommonSpirit Health