Kaiser Permanente has appointed Benjamin K. Chu, MD, president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan's Southern Californ ia Region. Chu joins Kaiser Permanente from the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), where he was president of the $4.2 billion dollar public hospital system. HHC comprises 11 acute-care hospitals, 40,000 employees, and 7,000 contracted physicians. Kaiser Permanente's Southern Californ ia Region is made up of 11 major medical centers, 47,300 employees, and 3,600 physicians.
Said Leslie A. Margolin, Kaiser Permanente's national senior vice president for Health Plan and Hospital Operations, who led the search. "his leadership, HHC implemented clinical information systems throughout the organization, redesigned ambulatory care, and carried out a $1.2 billion capital rebuilding program, among other initiatives." Said Dr. Chu. "Kaiser Permanente has been the focus of so many innovations in healthcare delivery. With its KP HealthConnect (new electronic medical record system) strategy and its emphasis on quality and its measurement, Kaiser Permanente is poised to push the healthcare system to a new level of performance."
Prior to joining HHC, Dr. Chu was the senior associate dean for Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons for the Harlem Hospital affiliation. He managed the affiliation contract and was responsible for the graduate medical education and research programs sponsored by Columbia University at Harlem Hospital. Previously, he served as associate dean and vice president for clinical affairs at New York University and at the New York University Medical Center. Dr. Chu, an internist by training, received his medical degree from New York University, earned a master's degree in public health from Columbia University, and a BA in psychology from Yale University.
Dr. Chu, 52, will assume his new duties in mid-February.
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit, group practice prepayment health plan with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8.2 million members in 9 states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 138,000 technical, administrative, clerical employees and caregivers and more than 11,000 physicians representing all specialties.