Thirty-two clinical leaders have been selected to participate in the California Health Care Foundation's Health Care Leadership Program to expand their management skills and meet the challenges facing our state's health care system.

The leadership program is a part-time fellowship that offers clinically trained health care professionals hands-on opportunities to develop the decision-making, strategic planning, and executive skills they need to excel as multifaceted leaders.

During the two-year program, fellows attend six seminars and participate in ongoing learning activities. Graduates gain insights into the trends and challenges facing health care and leave prepared for new levels of leadership within their organizations.

"Activated, passionate leaders are driving needed changes throughout the health care system," said Healthforce Center at UCSF Director Sunita Mutha, MD, FACP. "I am so proud of the hundreds of CHCF Health Care Leadership Program alumni who are improving care in their communities, and I can't wait to see the impact this new cohort will have on their organizations and throughout California."

"Fellows in the CHCF Health Care Leadership Program are agents of change who are transforming and modernizing the state's health care system, said Sandra R. Hernández, MD, president and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation. "Long after they complete their fellowships, participants apply their leadership skills to improve and streamline the way care is delivered and bring us closer to our goal of a health care system that works for all Californians."

More than 400 doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals have participated in the program since its inception in 2001. Nationally recognized health care and leadership development experts from Healthforce Center at UCSF teach the curriculum. Alumni become part of a network across California that continues to collaborate and share skills.

In this video, Susan Ehrlich, MD, MPP, a 2007 program graduate, discusses her experience.

CHCF Health Care Leadership Program
Cohort 17 (class of 2017-19)

Anshu Abhat, MD, MPH
Director of Patient Engagement, IT
Los Angeles Department of Health Services, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center

Maria J. Alvarez, PhD
Director of Behavioral Health Services
Alliance Medical Center / Clinica Alianza

Lee Atkinson-McEvoy, MD
Professor and Executive Medical Director
UC San Francisco

Christopher Bayne, MD
Assistant Professor
UC Davis Medical Center

Arpi Bekmezian, MD
Associate Clinical Professor
UC San Francisco

Anne Bird, MD
Medical Director, Outpatient Psychiatry Clinics
UC San Diego

Tamara Chambers, MD
Chief Medical Director
LAC+USC Medical Center

Stephanie Cohen, MD, MPH
Medical Director, San Francisco City Clinic
San Francisco Department of Public Health

Shannon Connolly, MD
Associate Medical Director
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties

Charity Dean, MD, MPH
Health Officer
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department

Katrina Domingo, PsyD
Behavioral Health Manager
Kaiser Permanente

Kellene Eagen, MD
Associate Medical Director
Tom Waddell Integrated Medical Services, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Parastou Farhadian, MD
Program Director, RUHS/UCR Family Medicine Residency Program
Riverside University Health System

Zoey Goore, MD, MPH
Chief of Medical Education
Kaiser Permanente and American Academy of Pediatrics

Ramesh Kesavalu, MD
Lead Rheumatologist, Co-Chair
Lakeside Community Healthcare

Eric Lee, MD
Deputy Medical Executive
California Correctional Health Care Services

Demetria Malloy, MD
Medical Director
Anthem Blue Cross

Pooja Mittal, DO
Medical Director
HealthNet

Kelly Morehouse-Smith, MA
VP, Clinical Services
Child & Family Center

Benjamin Morrison, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Community Medical Centers

Tam Nguyen, PhD
Behavioral Health Director
Tri-City Health Center

Mariana Noy, MSW
Mental Health Chief
Contra Costa Regional Medical Center

Margo Pumar, MA, MD
Lead Psychiatrist
UC San Francisco at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital

Dominique Quincy, MD
Chair, Family Medicine Department
Sutter Health/Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Shahna Rogosin, MD
Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Sutter Health/Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Emily Sladek, MD
Division Head, Gerontology
Scripps Health

Carolyn Stead, PsyD
Senior Director, Integrated Behavioral Health
Institute on Aging

Michelle Stott, MSN
Quality Improvement Director
Central California Alliance for Health

Raymond Tsai, MD, MS
Associate Director, Clinical Innovation
The Wonderful Company

Melissa Vallas, MD
Lead Psychiatrist
Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services Agency

Veronica Velasquez-Morfin, MD
Medical Director
El Dorado Community Health Center

Giselle Willick, PharmD
Executive Director, National Pharmacy Controls
Kaiser Permanente

About Healthforce Center at UCSF

Healthforce Center at UCSF prepares health care organizations for success by combining a deep understanding of the issues facing their workforce with the leadership skills to drive progress. The center's efforts are focused in the core areas of leadership programs and workforce research. For more information about Healthforce Center, visit http://healthforce.ucsf.edu.

About the California Health Care Foundation

CHCF is dedicated to advancing meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care delivery system provides care to the people of California, particularly those with low incomes and those whose needs are not well served by the status quo. We work to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. 

CHCF informs policymakers and industry leaders, invests in ideas and innovations, and connects with changemakers to create a more responsive, patient-centered health care system.