Susan Mims, MD, MPH, FAAP, with over 20 years of experience in clinical and healthcare leadership in North Carolina, currently serves as the President and CEO of the Dogwood Health Trust, a $1.7 billion private foundation, where she leads a team of public health-oriented philanthropists using creative and innovative investments to change the factors that influence health beyond health care services focusing in four strategic priority areas, housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness, grounded in equitable opportunity for all.  

Prior to joining Dogwood Health Trust, Dr. Mims worked with the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) as the Chair of a new Department of Community and Public Health at UNC Health Sciences leading the Asheville campus of the UNC Gillings School of Public Health in collaboration with UNC Asheville, community health outreach programs, rural and minority health professions workforce development.  

Through 14 years with Mission Health System, Dr. Mims held several roles working to meet the healthcare needs of the people and families of western NC, including Vice President for Children’s Services, Chief of Pediatrics, and Vice Chief of Staff. Arriving in western NC in 2000, Dr. Mims served as medical director at the Buncombe County Health Department for six years, leading all aspects of public health and the largest community health primary care clinic in the county.  

Dr. Mims attended college at the University of Georgia on an athletic scholarship. After college she volunteered in Guatemala for a year in community development before returning to UNC in Chapel Hill to earn a Master of Public Health and MD degrees. She continued her medical training at UNC Hospitals in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine and Public Health and attained board certification in all three disciplines.  

Dr. Mims is active in national, state and WNC regional community organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, NC Pediatric Society (Past President), and the Buncombe County Commission on Early Childhood Education. Spending her early years living in a variety of towns and cities in the US, she is grateful to call Western North Carolina home for nearly 25 years now and loves spending time with her family in these majestic mountains.