Suzanne White, M.D. ’88, was appointed medical director for the Detroit Health Department in July 2017. Prior to that, she served as executive vice president and chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center’s Detroit Market, with responsibility for system-wide quality improvement, patient safety, medical education, clinical research, medical staff affairs, governance and regulatory affairs. She is a nationally recognized expert in emergency preparedness, particularly as it relates to chemical, biological and radiological disaster response.

Dr. White completed a residency and fellowship at WSU. Additionally, she earned a master’s of business administration degree from the University of Tennessee, and completed a fellowship in Executive Leadership In Academic Medicine at Drexel University.

Before becoming chief medical officer in 2011, Dr. White served as the Dayanandan Endowed Professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics and Chair of Emergency Medicine for the WSU School of Medicine. Her other roles have included medical director of the Michigan Poison Control System, program director for DMC/WSU fellowship in medical toxicology and founder of the first DMC/WSU EMS/Disaster Medicine Fellowship.

Dr. White has co-chaired the WSU Pandemic Preparedness Task Force, chaired the American Board of Medical Specialties Medical Toxicology Subboard and served as educational programming chair for the American College of Medical Toxicology.

She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including multiple HOUR Detroit Top Doc recognitions and the 2010 Wayne State University Distinguished Alumna Award. In 2014, Dr. White was named by Becker’s Hospital Review one of the 500 People to Know in Healthcare and one of the Top 100 Hospital and Health System CMOs to Know.