Saunders, named chief executive in 2015, started her career at WellStar in 2007 as president of the system's flagship hospital in Marietta, Ga. She now leads a system totaling 11 hospitals and more than 250 other care sites. Over the past year, she created a performance-improvement plan that gives employees full ownership of ideas to generate revenue, reduce costs and improve performance. She oversaw the 2016 acquisition of five Tenet Healthcare Corp. hospitals, which doubled WellStar's presence in the Atlanta region. Saunders, the health system's first female CEO, continually works to elevate female executives.