Prime Healthcare Names Kavitha Bhatia, MD First Chief Medical Officer of Strategy

Prime Healthcare, one of the nation’s premier hospital systems, has appointed Kavitha Bhatia, MD as its first Chief Medical Officer of Strategy. In this role, Dr. Bhatia will develop and implement strategic initiatives that advance the mission and long-term success of Prime Healthcare.

Dr. Bhatia has served as Vice President of Clinical Transformation and Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, leading the transformation of the Prime Healthcare system during a time of unprecedented growth. “With Dr. Bhatia’s leadership, Prime has grown and built the infrastructure to leverage our unique value and scale. Her contributions have led to improvements in structure, process and quality in nearly every area of our organization,” said Prem Reddy, MD, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime. “Dr. Bhatia is the ideal choice to develop our most important strategic programs as Prime Healthcare continues to grow and serve communities across the nation.”

Since Prime’s founding in 2001, the health system has restored 45 community hospitals to financial health, saving over 35,000 jobs in 14 states, and along the way earned countless awards and recognitions for quality care and demonstrated excellence.  Annually, Prime Healthcare hospitals are recognized among the nation’s best by The Leapfrog Group, Healthgrades, and IBM Watson Health.

“Prime Healthcare has grown exponentially in recent years and we have built a scalable platform to support our national presence and mission of service,” said Dr. Bhatia.  “We are now poised for growth and focused on system-wide value creation as we develop innovative and sustainable strategies to ensure Prime’s continued success. In a time when healthcare is rapidly evolving, we have to reimagine a brighter and better future for care so that we may bring health and hope to more communities.”

Prime Healthcare stands apart from other hospital systems for its unique ability to save and transform financially distressed community hospitals. The business model emphasizes a physician-driven leadership structure, operational efficiency, clinical quality, investments in technology and a focus on patient and family experience.

“Dr. Bhatia facilitates visionary thinking throughout Prime, striving for excellence while keeping patients and communities at the forefront,” said Paryus Patel, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Prime Healthcare. “She inspires others to serve the mission, vision, and values of Prime Healthcare, providing a unique perspective with her clinical experience, analytical strengths and commitment to quality.”

Dr. Bhatia also serves as Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a not-for-profit system with 15 of Prime Healthcare’s 45 hospitals. During her tenure, the Foundation grew in assets and equity, and successfully pursued a strategy of growth through acquisition, expanding to four new states and adding eight new hospitals since 2015.

Dr. Bhatia graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego. She graduated with Letters of Distinction in Doctoring and Honors from UCLA School of Medicine, and earned a Masters in Medical Management from USC Marshall School of Business. Dr. Bhatia has practiced pediatrics for over a decade and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  She is deeply committed to philanthropy, receiving a Miraculous Medallion for her service with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, and serves both national and global philanthropic causes.

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About Prime Healthcare: Prime Healthcare is an award-winning national hospital system with 45 acute-care hospitals providing nearly 35,000 jobs in 14 states. Fifteen of the hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity. Based in California and one of the largest hospital systems in the country, Prime Healthcare is committed to ensuring access to quality healthcare. Prime Healthcare and its hospitals have been recognized as among the “100 Top Hospitals” in the nation 47 times and among the “15 Top Health Systems” three times, and Prime is the only “10 Top Health System” west of the Mississippi. For more information, please visit www.primehealthcare.com.

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• Kavitha Bhatia MD