From California's
governor to America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), tributes poured in
following the sudden death of Kaiser Permanente Chairman and CEO Bernard J.
Tyson on Nov. 10. In an unusually emotional statement, AHIP's board said it was
"devastated" to learn the news and described Tyson, 60, as "a revered
leader."
The Alliance of Community
Health Plans (ACHP), of which Kaiser Permanente is a member, described Tyson as
"a visionary leader with a passion for health equity, quality care and
serving those in need" whose work had a broad, positive impact on millions
of Americans.
The board of directors of
Kaiser Permanente named Gregory Adams, executive vice president and group
president, as interim chairman and CEO.
Tyson, a California
native, was the first African American to lead Kaiser Permanente. His tenure in
the managed care organization spanned more than three decades; he became CEO in
2013.
"I think that by
having the long career at Kaiser Permanente and coming up through the ranks,
Bernard always had a deep appreciation for the [integrated] model of
care," says Ceci Connolly, ACHP's president and CEO. Moreover, Tyson
"was always an innovator on data and technology," focused on getting
evidence-based care protocols into the hands of clinical teams, she says.
With his "deep
understanding," Tyson advanced the Kaiser Permanente model's concepts
early on, "and as CEO, he took the power of the model out into the
community," Connolly says.
In June, Kaiser
Permanente launched its Thrive Local program that aims to provide coordinated
social supports within three years to its members nationally as well as the 68
million people in the communities that Kaiser Permanente serve.
In its latest financials
released Nov. 8, Kaiser Permanente reported spending $2.8 billion on community
health in 2018.
From Health Plan Weekly
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