Nursing alumna serves as president of Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center

Deneen Richmond | Photo credit: Luminis Health

Many people would opt out of an opportunity to lead a hospital amid a global pandemic, but UDC alumna Deneen Richmond embraced the challenge. Already on the fast track in her career, she was tapped to become the president of Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center in Prince George’s County in November 2020—11 months into a pandemic that gripped hospitals across the country.

Richmond oversees over 1,600 employees and manages a $254 million revenue base at the 50-year-old community hospital in Lanham, Maryland. She is passionate about promoting health equity and eradicating health disparities. Richmond has more than 30 years of healthcare leadership experience.

“It’s been challenging and rewarding at the same time,” Richmond said. “We didn’t have a vaccine available, and there were questions about how it was transmitted and few places to go to be tested. There were unknowns in the community and among my staff. One of my ICU nurses told me she had dealt with more death [during this time] than in her entire career. It was draining, but we were always here and worked to keep our staff safe.”
Richmond, born in D.C. and raised in Prince George’s County, is proud of the hospital’s work to serve the county during the pandemic. According to Richmond, Luminis was the first to establish walk-up and drive-up testing without an appointment or requirement for a doctor’s orders.

The hospital provided support at food distribution sites and senior centers and gave out COVID-19 care kits, which included masks when there were shortages. It also created one of the first and largest COVID-19 vaccination distribution rollouts, partnering with Reid Temple, Prince George’s Community College, First United Methodist Church in Hyattsville, beauty salons and barbershops.

The pandemic wasn’t Richmond’s only experience with a national health crisis. Her first nursing job was at George Washington University Hospital on the HIV/AIDS floor. In the mid-1980s, the treatments for AIDS were experimental, and there was little information about transmission or how to protect healthcare workers.

“There were a lot of unknowns, and patients were being stigmatized,” she said. “There was a lot of family dynamics involved. It helped me to think through how I could continue to have an impact in communities where people were being marginalized.”

Richmond holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of the District of Columbia (‘ 86) and a master’s degree in Health Administration from George Washington University (‘ 92), where she is an adjunct professor.
“UDC prepared me well,” Richmond said. “It solidified and served as an important launching of my interests and passions and prepared me as I started my professional career.”

While she never saw herself leading a hospital, she has always remained open to change and opportunities where she could make a difference.

Her weekly routine includes meeting with stakeholders, local and state leaders, and community and faith leaders to understand concerns and needs to improve healthcare in Prince George’s County. Those concerns have been identified and are being addressed.

The hospital is preparing to open a comprehensive behavioral health program on the Lanham campus. It received a $20 million grant to build the 31,000-square-foot comprehensive behavioral health facility, which will offer outpatient services, walk-up urgent care for behavioral health, stabilization services for those dealing with substance abuse and an in-patient psychiatric unit.

Richmond said the hospital is also preparing to expand its specialized services for women, from breast surgery to bariatrics. In addition, plans include adding a wing for obstetrics. Richmond said eight out of ten women deliver their babies outside of Prince George’s County.

While she is in tune with community needs, Richmond has never lost touch with the requirements of patients and staff. Living only a mile away, she is proud of what she describes as a “family culture” at the hospital, where she works to stay connected at all levels.

Richmond is known to make medical rounds with staff to check in with them and meet patients. She has a monthly leadership team meeting and invites groups of employees to have lunch with her in her office each month to acknowledge them and to hear their concerns. In addition, Richmond hosts a monthly internal podcast where she interviews department heads.

She is one of only a few Black women hospital CEOs in the country. Richmond is part of the newly formed Black Women CEO Roundtable established by the American Hospital Association to create a support system for Black women, representing only five percent of CEOs at the 5,000 community hospitals in the country. She also gains support through programs by CHIEF, an organization for women executives in the C-suite across all industries and the National Association of Health Services Executives. She is also supported by her husband, two adult sons, mentors and a large extended family.

“As a woman of color, I am very tuned to the longstanding impact of structural racism and disparities that we see in our communities,” Richmond said. “Growing up, I experienced it firsthand. As a Black woman in a leadership role, I have definitely had some experiences with those issues. There isn’t a person of color who hasn’t. What I look at now is how to make sure I am truly making a difference in this community so that we won’t have these same conversations five to ten years from now.”

Luminis Hospital CEO Deneen Richmond cuts the ribbon for the opening of the Behavioral Health Pavilion in June 2022. The Pavilion is located on the Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center campus in Lanham, Maryland. | Photo credit: Luminis Health

According to her bio on Luminis Health, Richmond most recently served as chief Quality and Population Health officer for Luminis Heath. Before that, she served as vice president of Population Health at Anne Arundel Medical Center. She came to Anne Arundel Medical Center from Inova Health System, where she served as vice president of Performance Improvement and Outcomes. She has also held leadership positions at Holy Cross Hospital, the Delmarva Foundation, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

Richmond is a recipient of the Milken Institute School of Public Health’s Excellence in Teaching Masters Level Online Award. Named a Modern Healthcare/Witt Kieffer Up and Comer in 2004, she has also been honored by the National Association of Health Service Executives as a 2014 Distinguished Healthcare Leader.

“It gives me a great vantage point when I reflect on where my career has gone,” she said. “I am very fortunate and appreciative of being in this seat today.”

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