Dr. Cheryl Whitaker

NextLevel Health (NLH) is a groundbreaking health insurance company dedicated to helping the underserved access and manage Medicaid services. Dr. Whitaker co-founded NLH in 2014 after noting that government-funded health care programs often failed to reach their intended beneficiaries, many of whom had no idea assistance was available. This innovative for-profit company borrows a page from the community organizer’s playbook by bringing “the medical home” to “the member’s home” with extensive patient services provided through a geographically co-located Care Management Team model. Dr. Whitaker earned a medical degree at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her clinical training in primary care internal medicine at Stanford University and the University of California San Francisco, and a fellowship in health services research at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a former member of Advisory Board for Northern Illinois American College of Physicians and an appointee to the Chicago Institute of Medicine. She lives on Chicago’s South Side with her husband and two children.