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Uche S. Uchendu, MD
Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs
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Research Interests: Health Equity
Uche S. Uchendu, MD was appointed the Executive Director, Office of Health Equity, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2013. Dr. Uchendu is championing the advancement of health equity and reduction of health disparities for all, especially vulnerable populations. She is responsible for building a multi-focused program that increases awareness of health equity and strengthens the ability of the VHA to identify, understand, and address health inequalities and health disparities. Prior roles included associate chief of staff at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System and medical director of the Texarkana Community Based Outpatient Clinic under the Shreveport VA medical center. Dr. Uchendu whose background is internal medicine, transitioned from a successful multi-specialty practice to the VA in 2001. At the VHA, in addition to direct patient care, she championed various novel initiatives like the Primary Care - Mental Health Integration. She also served on key national workgroups and as coach for the VHA implementation of the Patient Centered Medical Home Model customized in VHA as Patient Aligned Care Teams - PACT. In her current role, Dr. Uchendu launched and steered the VHA Health Equity Coalition to deliver the first VHA Health Equity Action Plan (HEAP) in record time and is leading the charge for the deployment. She led the effort and served as a guest editor for the 2014 American Journal of Public Health Supplement dedicated to Veterans Health Equity. As Executive Director, she represents VHA and serves as liaison to other governmental and non-governmental organizations working to achieve health equity. Dr. Uchendu is a member of the American College of Physicians, the American Association for Physician Leadership and the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities.
