‘A Vision Statement That is Felt and Lived Here’
Post Date: December 5, 2024 | Publish Date:
Inaugural Award Presentation Celebrates Changemakers Uma Kotagal and Carley Riley
A special event took place Dec. 3 at Cincinnati Children’s Burnet campus to honor the legacy of Uma Kotagal, MBBS, MSc, and celebrate the ongoing changemaking influence of Carley Riley, MD, MPP, MHS.
Riley is the first recipient of the Uma R. Kotagal Changemaker Award, which was created in honor of Kotagal’s pioneering work in quality improvement and child advocacy. Kotagal, a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a Great Living Cincinnatian, retired from Cincinnati Children’s in 2021.
Riley is an attending physician in the Division of Critical Care Medicine, the Community Systems faculty lead in the Michael Fisher Child Health Equity Center and director of the Mayerson Child Well-being Initiative. Riley gave a lecture at the inaugural award event.
Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation, chair of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati, and Cincinnati Children’s chief medical officer, spoke of the profound influence Kotagal has had on Cincinnati Children’s and beyond. Cheng emphasized Kotagal’s dedication to putting children first, asking tough questions, and pushing the envelope in quality, safety, outcomes and equity.
Peter Margolis, MD, PhD, professor and former co-director, James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence, followed with a heartfelt tribute, recounting how Kotagal impacted his career, mentioning her pioneering work in neonatal care, her role in transforming Cincinnati Children’s into a world leader in pediatric healthcare, and her promotion of learning health networks. “True change is about empowering everybody at the table,” he said.
Accepting the award, Riley shared about her journey, which included discovering the importance of community-engaged, evidence-informed, strength-based research and action to create conditions for all people to thrive.
“I leapt at the opportunity to start my early career at an institution that has a vision statement that Cincinnati Children’s will be a leader in improving health,” Riley said. “This isn’t just a vision statement that sits on a wall or flashes on a website. This is really a vision statement that is felt and lived here. And in coming here, I joined a community of people that stands aside, behind, and with their changemakers.”
Riley stressed the need for a significant shift in how healthcare is approached in the United States, advocating for a pivot from focusing solely on medical care to putting children, youth, families, and communities at the center. She underscored the importance of systems thinking and the creation of a community learning system to address complex, interconnected problems.
The event was a powerful reminder of the impact of Cincinnati Children’s changemakers like Kotagal and Riley, inspiring attendees to continue striving for better outcomes in healthcare and community well-being.
Watch the lecture
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