Top 25 Innovators - 2021

Williams leads several of the system’s efforts to expand care access. During the pandemic, his team pushed care into vulnerable communities, including sending mobile health units to areas with limited access for screenings and primary care, with an emphasis on Black and Latino populations; set up respiratory centers for underserved populations; and distributed masks to more than 450,000 people. He also led an effort to tap into ZIP code data to ensure equitable vaccine rollout. By the end of April 2021, Novant had distributed nearly 16,000 doses at pop-up community events where 67% of people identified as a racial or ethnic minority. He is also building out Novant’s work on social determinants, including integrating it into a new health center funded by Michael Jordan.