Kaiser Permanente Names Bechara Choucair, MD, MS, as First Chief Community Health Officer

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 5 -- Kaiser Permanente issued the following news release:

Kaiser Permanente announced today that Bechara Choucair, MD, MS, has joined the organization as chief community health officer and senior vice president of Community Health and Benefit for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.

"We are delighted to have Dr. Choucair join Kaiser Permanente," said Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson. "As a nonprofit organization, we are dedicated to providing a meaningful portion of our revenue to invest in community health and well-being. While we directly care for nearly 11 million Kaiser Permanente members, our commitment is to improve the health of the 60 million people within the areas we serve. Dr. Choucair is the perfect addition to our team to advance Kaiser Permanente's efforts to deliver on our promise to our members and our communities."

Dr. Choucair will oversee Kaiser Permanente's philanthropic giving, helping guide its participation in government-subsidized programs such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. And as the organization's first chief community health officer, he will expand Kaiser Permanente's legacy of community health leadership by maximizing the organization's resources to strengthen existing partnerships and coalitions and to develop new ones to address broader social issues that impact community and individual health.

"I am honored to join Kaiser Permanente, which is known as a national leader in connecting its community health work to its quality and prevention agenda," Dr. Choucair said. "Improving the health of communities is something I care deeply about, and I am excited to build on Kaiser Permanente's visionary work."

Dr. Choucair brings extensive health care experience to Kaiser Permanente. His most recent role was as senior vice president, Safety Net Transformation and Community Health at Trinity Health, a Michigan-based, not-for-profit Catholic health system operating hospitals and other health care facilities in 22 states. He also served as the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, the executive director of Heartland Health Centers in Chicago, and medical director of Crusader Community Health in Illinois. He began his career as a family physician in 2000.

Dr. Choucair received his medical degree from the American University of Beirut, and a master's degree in health care management from the University of Texas at Dallas. He completed his family medicine training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 10.6 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

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