Executive Biographies | Colorado

Donna Lynne, DrPH

Group president, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado

Donna Lynne, DrPH, is a group president for Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and is responsible for its Pacific Northwest, Ohio and Georgia regions. In addition, she is president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado. There are more than 525,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Colorado and 870,000 in the other three regions she oversees, with a combined total revenue base of over $6 billion. Kaiser Permanente Colorado owns and operates over 20 full-service medical offices in Denver, Boulder and Southern Colorado, and is the state’s largest group medical practice organization.

From 1998 to April 2005, Dr. Lynne was the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Group Health Incorporated, a $2.5 billion managed care organization. In the mid-1990s, she was also the executive director of the New York Business Group on Health. Dr. Lynne spent 20 years in various positions in New York City government, including first deputy commissioner, Office of Labor Relations; director, Mayor’s Office of Operations; and senior vice president, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.

Dr. Lynne was an International Executive Fellow with the International Federation of Health Plans. She was awarded the Denver Business Journal’s 2008 Outstanding Women in Business Award. Dr. Lynne received the 2009 Distinguished Coloradan Award from the University of Colorado Denver School of Pharmacy. She also received the President’s Award from Women in Health Management, and the Health Care Leadership Award from the New York Business Group on Health.

Dr. Lynne is a mentor with America’s Health Insurance Plans Foundation. She is a member of the Board of Directors for eHealth Initiative and the Foundation for eHealth Initiative. In Colorado, she currently serves on the boards of Colorado Legacy Foundation, Colorado Mountain Club, Colorado Regional Health Information Organization, Colorado Succeeds, Denver Public Schools Foundation and Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation. She is also on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, US Bank Denver Advisory Board and the President’s Leadership Council of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Dr. Lynne is a member of Colorado Concern and Colorado Forum. Additionally, in 2010 she was one of 16 statewide transition co-chairs and Personnel and Administration Committee co-chair for Colorado Governor Hickenlooper.

Dr. Lynne has a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from the University of New Hampshire, a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University, and a doctorate in public health from Columbia University. She also holds the designation of Certified Employee Benefits Specialist from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans/University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. Dr. Lynne is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Health at Columbia University.

Dr. Lynne "views Kaiser Permanente as the solution to many of the problems with the current health care system.” She believes the organization is “built on a strong foundation of evidence-based medicine; we invest substantially in coordinating the care of our patients; we employ hundreds of quality and service experts in our organization; we are a leader in health information technology; and we put the patient at the center.” As a result, “we provide value in terms of cost and quality to our members.”

Dr. Lynne enjoys skiing, mountaineering, cycling and reading. She resides in Morrison,
Colo. and has three children, Rachel (31), James (29) and Ben (27).