Bio
Dr. Sally Mahmoud-Werthmann, MD, MPH, is an emergency physician whose work focuses on advancing health equity through clinical operations, systems redesign, implementation, and community partnership. Her expertise lies in identifying barriers to care for patients navigating complex medical, social, and structural challenges and developing scalable, patient-centered solutions that improve access, care coordination, and health outcomes. She is particularly interested in translating health equity principles into sustainable operational interventions that improve the delivery of care across healthcare systems.
Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann's work includes leading the Stanford Emergency Department Complex Care Program and health-related social needs initiatives, advancing Community Health Worker program implementation and evaluation, supporting addiction treatment implementation, and leading operational efforts aimed at improving care transitions and access for vulnerable populations. Her work brings together physicians, nurses, social workers, operational leaders, information technology teams, and community partners to design and implement programs that improve care across the continuum.
She leads RITE (Realizing Improvement Through Team Empowerment), an interdisciplinary Stanford team of physicians, nurses, social workers, fellows, and other partners working to improve how the Emergency Department identifies and responds to patients' health-related social needs. She also works with Stanford Health Care's Health Equity Management Guidance Team (MGT) and serves on the leadership team for the Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Workgroup, helping develop the infrastructure, workflows, and partnerships needed to strengthen HRSN screening, referral, navigation, and connection to resources across the health system.
Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann is also part of a multidisciplinary Stanford team participating in the Complex Needs in Medi-Cal Learning Network, a statewide collaborative funded by the California Health Care Foundation that brings together health-system leaders across California to explore strategies that strengthen care for Medi-Cal patients with complex health and social needs, including approaches to CalAIM implementation, care coordination, community partnerships, and sustainable models of care.
A collaborative and people-centered leader, Dr. Mahmoud-Werthmann is particularly interested in bringing together diverse stakeholders to identify shared goals, align efforts, and develop sustainable solutions that improve care. She believes that meaningful systems change begins with understanding the lived experiences of patients and ensuring that healthcare innovation remains grounded in the needs of the individuals and communities it serves. Her work is guided by the principle that advancing health equity requires collaboration across clinical care, operations, community partnerships, education, and health system leadership.
