Women in Health Administration, a nonprofit association for women in healthcare leadership, has named its honorees for the 2025 Woman of the Year and Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement.
June Simmons, founding president and CEO of San Fernando, Calif.-based Partners in Care Foundation, was selected as the 2025 Woman of the Year, according to a May 14 news release shared with Becker’s.
Rhoda Weiss, PhD, a healthcare executive, educator, author and consultant, was named the Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement honoree.
Ms. Simmons founded Partners in Care, an organization focused on addressing social determinants of health and equity disparities by aligning social care and healthcare, in 1997. Since its inception, she has championed coordinated care to improve health outcomes, developed evidence-based interventions improving medication management, and ensured safe transitions between care settings, the release said.
“June’s visionary leadership continues to transform the delivery of healthcare by bridging the gaps between clinical and community-based care,” Tricia Gray, president of Women in Health Administration and COO of CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, said in the release. “June’s commitment to improving patient outcomes while addressing healthcare system challenges exemplifies the leadership we celebrate at Women in Health Administration.”
Dr. Weiss is the founder of Health Market Leaders, a national coalition of chief marketing, strategy, digital and communications officers at health systems across the U.S. She also chairs BetterTogether.Health, which unites systems to improve community health, and was founding chair of the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development, the release said. She also hosts weekly conference calls with 125 healthcare executives and co-chairs Becker’s Annual Meeting and CEO + CFO Roundtable.
“If you’ve spent even a moment in healthcare, you likely know Dr. Weiss simply as ‘Rhoda,'” Ms. Gray said. “Her influence spans hundreds of speeches, countless health systems she has helped shape, and standing room-only keynote interviews at Becker’s. … She is a force of nature — her impact nothing short of legendary.”
Ms. Simmons and Dr. Weiss will be honored at a Women in Health Administration 45th anniversary event on May 16 in Los Angeles, featuring a keynote panel of former Woman of the Year award recipients.
The panel will be led by Laureen Driscroll, chief executive of Providence South Division, which includes 17 hospitals and hundreds of sites of care in California.
Panelists include:
- Lara Khouri, president and COO of Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, who has more than two decades of leadership at pediatric hospitals and university teaching roles.
- Jill Martin, executive vice president of Cedars-Sinai Medical Group, which includes 800 physicians and 1,500 staff across physician practices and urgent care, surgery, physical therapy and imaging centers.
- Margaret Peterson, PhD, MSN, RN, principal and executive vice president of COPE Health Solutions, with experience as a hospital CEO and chief nursing officer.
- Shawn Sheffield, chief strategy officer at Keck Medicine of USC in Los Angeles, who co-chairs the Vizient CSO Network and has 25 years of leadership experience.
- Johnese Spisso, RN, president of UCLA Health, CEO of UCLA Hospital System and associate vice chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences, overseeing several hospitals and 280 clinics with 40 years of experience.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:11 a.m. Central time on May 16.
