Airica Steed, MetroHealth System's CEO, is taking a temporary medical leave of absence, officials confirmed to Ideastream Public Media.
MetroHealth’s Board of Trustees said in a statement Thursday that Steed is expected to return mid-August, and wished her and her family well.
The Board is holding a special meeting on Friday to discuss how the health system will be managed.
The news that Steed was taking a leave was first announced in an email to staff on Tuesday.
The email did not give a reason for her leave, but Steed disclosed that it was for medical purposes, said Joe Frolik, the hospital's senior vice president of communications, government and community relations.
Derrick Hollings, executive vice president and chief financial officer of MetroHealth, will manage operations while Steed is away.
Steed has been leading the system since 2022, making her the first woman, first Black person and first nurse to serve as CEO in the health system’s almost 200-year history. She joined a month early, after MetroHealth's board of trustees accused outgoing CEO Akram Boutros of giving himself $1.9 million in supplemental bonuses without the board's knowledge.
Steed was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer of Sinai Chicago Health System.
In a January 2023 interview with Ideastream, Steed noted plans to address chronic disease and the mental health crisis within her first year on the job, adding that access to health care and food and housing insecurity were also in her plans.
She also said a priority was to provide calm guidance in the aftermath of the bonus scandal.
"I was drawn to coming to help to be the leadership that we needed to be during this time of crisis and to calm the storm," she said." And I've been welcomed with open arms. I feel just like at home."
Her focus on eliminating health disparities, particularly for women of color, resulted in MetroHealth's first Women's Health Fair and Empowerment Expo. Steed is also a board member on the newly-formed Cuyahoga County Women's Health Commission.
