Thirty-two clinical leaders have been chosen to participate in the California Health Care Foundation Health Care Leadership Program to expand their leadership skills and meet the challenges facing our state’s health care system, the foundation announced today.

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

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

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.

“Participants in the CHCF Health Care Leadership Program are extraordinary for their commitment to making their organizations better,” said Sandra R. Hernández, MD, president and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation. “As a result, the people of California will receive health care that they deserve with efficiency and dignity.”

Watch a video about the program.

CHCF Health Care Leadership Program
Class of 2016-18

Jei Africa, PsyD, MSCP
Director
Office of Diversity and Equity, County of San Mateo Health System

Chitra Akileswaran, MD, MBA
Cofounder/Chief Operating Officer, LUCY; Attending Ob/gyn, Highland Hospital
LUCY and Highland Hospital

Cheryl Baggeroer, MD
Consulting Psychiatrist
Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services

Josh Banerjee, MD, MPH
Director, Adult Medicine
LAC+USC Primary Care

Georgina Bicknell, MS
Nurse Director
Bakersfield Memorial Hospital

Naveena Bobba, MD
Director, Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response
San Francisco Department of Public Health

Sergio Camarillo, RN, MS, MBA
Director, Patient Care Services
Sutter Health

Daniela Connelly, MD, MPH
Senior Medical Officer
Wonderful Health and Wellness

Bahar Davidoff, PharmD
Vice President, Pharmacy
Regal Medical Group

Stanley Dea, MD
Director, eConsult
Dept. of Health Services, County of Los Angeles

Marie Earvolino-Ramirez, PhD, RN
Director, Clinical Outcomes
CalOptima

Cassandra Eslami, MS
Managing Director, Mental Health Services
HealthRight 360

Heather Filipowicz, MS, RD
Director, Clinical Nutrition
Stanford Health Care

Karen Gersten-Rothenberg, MSN
Family Nurse Practitioner
La Clínica de La Raza

Jason Guardino, DO, MS Ed
APIC, Quality; Chief, GI
The Permanente Medical Group

Reena Gupta, MD
Medical Director, PRIME and Care Transformation
San Francisco Health Network

Jen Hastings, MD
Medical Director, Encompass Community Services, Santa Cruz
Director, Transgender Healthcare, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte

Hyung Kim, MD
Associate Chief Medical Officer
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center

Sonali Kulkarni, MD, MPH
Medical Director
Division of HIV and STD Programs, LA County Dept. of Public Health

Johanna Liu, PharmD, MBA
Director, Quality and Pharmacy
Santa Clara Family Health Plan

Ben Lui, MD, MPH
Center Director and Medical Director
Chinatown Public Health Center, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Karen Noblett, MD, MAS
Professor and Chair
UC Riverside School of Medicine

Ami Parekh, MD, JD
Executive Medical Director, Population Health and Accountable Care
UCSF Health

Mitesh Popat, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Director
Marin Community Clinics

Khodam Rostomian, MD, MBA
Assistant Area Medical Director
Kaiser Permanente Southern California

Alpa Sanghavi, MD
Chief Quality and Experience Officer
San Mateo Medical Center

Erika Schillinger, MD
Clinical Professor
Stanford University School of Medicine

Jeffrey Seal, MD
Medical Director and Psychiatrist
Health Care for the Homeless, Alameda County Public Health Dept.

Ulfat Shaikh, MD, MPH
Director, Healthcare Quality; Professor of Pediatrics
UC Davis School of Medicine

Tanya Threewitt, MD
Medical Director Family Medicine
John Muir Medical Group

Alexander Threlfall, MD
Medical Director
Brookwood Health Center, Santa Rosa Community Health Centers

Edward Yu, MD
Medical Director, Quality
Palo Alto Medical Foundation / Sutter Health

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.

Contact Information:

About the California Health Care Foundation