Denise Brooks-Williams

Executive Vice President and CEO, Care Delivery System Operations

A native of Michigan, Denise received her bachelors and master’s degrees in health services administration from the University of Michigan before starting her career as a management fellow at Mercy Hospital in Detroit. She has been active in numerous professional groups including serving as president of the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE), one of the premier minority health professional organizations in the United States. Denise is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Denise began her career at Henry Ford Health in 2013, being named president and CEO of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital which serves the Downriver region and surrounding communities of southeast Michigan with approximately 2,400 employees, 600 medical staff members, including Henry Ford Health Center-Brownstown outpatient facility and physician practices.

In 2023 Denise was named Executive Vice President & CEO, Care Delivery System Operations. In addition to her stewardship of market strategy and hospital operations, she also provides system-wide leadership over other key areas including ambulatory operations, surgical services and emergency departments.

Brooks-Williams is active in several community- and charitable-based organizations. She is a past chair of the United Way Community Services--Neighborhood and Family Multi-Services Allocation Committee and a past member of the Community Impact Cabinet, the Lighthouse of Oakland County board, and secretary of the board of Ennis Center for Children. She currently serves on the University of Michigan Health Management and Policy Alumni Association, National Association of Health Service Executives, and the United Way. Brooks-Williams is actively engaged in the promotion of growth and diversity in the health care profession. In addition to her service with NAHSE, she is a board member of the Institute of Diversity, serves as delegate to Regional Policy Board 5 of the American Hospital Association’s Section for Health Care Systems and was appointed in April by Governor Rick Snyder (MI) to the Certificate of Need Commission.

Among Brooks-Williams’ honors are receiving the University of Michigan Five Under Ten alumni award for civic and professional service. At its 2004 educational conference, NAHSE presented her the Young Health Care Executive of the Year Award. She was included in the ‘Who’s Who’ in Black Detroit magazine, and awarded the Early Careerist Award from the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). The Michigan Chronicle selected her as a winner of the 2010 Women of Excellence Award. In April 2010, she was named one of the 'Top 25 Minority Executives in Health Care' by Modern Healthcare magazine. August 6, 2012. She was named 100 most influential Women 2016.