Patricia Blair

Following a career at the intersection of health care, law and corrections, Patricia Blair has been appointed as chair of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care Board of Representatives. Blair has dedicated her professional life to advancing correctional healthcare while addressing ethical, legal and policy challenges as well as health disparities in underserved communities. An associate professor in the School of Nursing Graduate Program at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and an adjunct associate professor in the School of Public and Population Health, Blair is using her platform as an educator to develop a correctional nursing certificate at UTMB and is also in the process of developing an interdisciplinary Correction Think Tank with other health professionals and the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In her new leadership role, she will use her extensive experience as a longtime champion for patients within the legal system to support the board’s mission of improving healthcare quality for incarcerated individuals.