Bio

President & Chair, NALHE
System Vice-President Community Health – Chief Diversity Officer
CHRISTUS Health

Marcos Pesquera is the System Vice-President for Community Health and the Chief Diversity Officer at CHRISTUS Health. CHRISTUS Health is an international Catholic, faith-based, not-for-profit health system comprised of almost 350 services and facilities, including more than 60 hospitals and long-term care facilities, 175 clinics and outpatient centers, and dozens of other health ministries and ventures; with the mission to extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. In this capacity, he leads the integration of D&I strategies, cultural competence and community partnerships to impact population health and achieve health equity.

Prior to joining CHRISTUS Health, Marcos was the Executive Director of the Adventist HealthCare Center for Health Equity and Wellness. Adventist HealthCare, an integrated health care delivery organization based in Maryland. In this capacity, Mr. Pesquera created and implemented initiatives that eliminate barriers to enable health equity in health status, health care access, treatment, and outcomes within the health care system and the community.

Pesquera also served as senior director of Diversity Programs for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States. Under his leadership they implemented initiatives that aided in bridging the gap between our Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients and their providers of care. Initiatives around ethnicity, race and language preference data collection were implemented. Training of healthcare providers and support staff around provision of culturally competent care and awareness of healthcare disparities, educating our communities concerning the importance of health insurance, prevention and a healthy lifestyle were also implemented. Under his leadership the Diversity Programs Department received several awards for initiatives including serving the uninsured on Martin Luther King Day, The Latino Center of Excellence, and the NCQA Disparities Award for the Qualified Bilingual Staff Program. He also served as a Medical Center Administrator and Director of Pharmacy Operations.

In 2010, Marcos was recognized as a Health Care Hero by the Daily Record News. He received the Health Equity Award from the “National Dialogue on Diversity” in 2014. In 2015 he received the Distinguish Healthcare Leadership Award from the National Association of Health Services Executives for the Washington DC. Region. In 2017, Marcos received the Diversity First Leadership Award from the Texas Diversity Council and the Excellence Healthcare Diversity Award from the National Diversity Council.

Marcos lives in the Dallas, Texas area with his wife Kinny of 33 years. He served on various committees and boards, including: Chair of the Commission on Health and Governor appointed to the Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council among others. He also served as Commissioner, Interagency Coalition for the Homeless, Community Advisor, University of Maryland, School of Public Health and Board member for Mercy Health Clinic and Leadership Montgomery. He currently serves in the Advisory Board for the Association for Community Health Improvement American Hospital Association and the Board of the National Association of Latino Healthcare Executives.