Excellence in Governance - 2022

Phillips is nearing a decade on Novant’s board and is the immediate past chair. He has helped grow the health system into a network with 800 care locations, 2,300 physicians and 36,000 employees. Using his finance background from a 35-year career at Bank of America, Phillips, now retired, helped nearly double Novant’s community benefit from $566 million in 2013 to $1.02 billion in 2020. He prioritized board efforts supporting comprehensive diversity and inclusion initiatives as well investments and strategies to advance health equity, which were recognized in 2019 by the National Association of Corporate Directors. Under his leadership, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2018 awarded Novant the nationwide Health Equity Award and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for several years recognized 15 Novant Health facilities for their achievements in LGBTQ healthcare equality.