Press Releases: Colorado
September 25, 2007
New Executive Medical Director to Lead Colorado's Largest Medical Group Practice
William Wright, MD, MSPH, Family Physician and Associate Medical Director of Market and Networks, will assume top physician post at Kaiser Permanente Colorado
DENVER – The physician shareholders of Kaiser Permanente Colorado have ratified the selection of William Wright, MD, MSPH, to be their new executive medical director. In this role, Dr. Wright will be responsible for shaping the medical care delivered to one in seven insured Coloradans in the Denver/Boulder area. Dr. Wright brings more than 20 years of clinical and leadership experience to Kaiser Permanente Colorado, the state's largest private, nonprofit health insurer. His term as executive medical director officially begins Oct. 1.
"Bill has been a fixture in the Kaiser Permanente system for over 20 years," Craig Robbins, MD, chairman, Colorado Permanente Medical Group Board of Directors and a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente's Smoky Hill Medical Offices. "He knows all aspects of the business inside and out, from his time as a frontline family medicine physician to his most recent experience as a member of the executive team that leads our 780-member physician group. Our nation and state need ethical, responsible, and value-driven health care leaders who put the patient at the center of every decision and we are confident Bill will bring this physician leadership to Kaiser Permanente."
William Wright, MD, MSPH
Donna Lynne, DrPH, Kaiser Permanente regional president, who will partner with Dr. Wright to lead Kaiser Permanente Colorado, shared the Board's enthusiasm. "With 20-plus years of clinical experience, I am confident that Bill will continue to elevate the quality of care and the excellence of our physicians, all while embracing affordability, service, and accessibility as key values in our organization. I am looking forward to building upon Kaiser Permanente's success with him," she said.
"It is an honor to step into this role, lead an organization I believe in so deeply, and serve a group of physicians who I think are going to change the model of health care in our state," said Wright. "As a physician first and foremost, I understand the needs of our patients and am absolutely committed to delivering the best care possible to our members. I believe we have two 'patients' to care for. One is the individual; the second is the community of members we serve. Both have vital signs, metrics, and unique needs. I am eager to meet these needs and set Kaiser Permanente apart as the solution in health care that we're all waiting for."
Dr. Wright replaces Jack Cochran, MD, who served as the executive medical director for eight years. Dr. Cochran was recently promoted to the role of executive director of The Permanente Federation in Oakland, Calif., the oversight body for all Kaiser Permanente physicians nationally.
As associate medical director for market and networks, Dr. Wright has been responsible for assessing and developing community network relationships with the medical group in partnership with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado. He has also been active in developing insurance products which help meet the need of employers, while emphasizing the strengths of the integrated delivery model which differentiates Kaiser Permanente. Over the years, Dr. Wright has built an impressive track record as a respected and progressive business leader in the Denver/Boulder medical community. His many accomplishments include:
- Innovative new insurance products: Kaiser Permanente Colorado has evolved from a traditional HMO to launch many new plans to help businesses keep their employees insured. These include plans to promote and reward prevention and plans that allow members to go outside the Kaiser Permanente system to seek care.
- Growth: Kaiser Permanente Colorado now provides insurance coverage to nearly 11 percent of the state. With more than 482,000 members, the organization has seen growth of 16 percent in five years.
- Community outreach: Dr. Wright has been instrumental in demonstrating and communicating the value of the Kaiser Permanente integrated delivery model, and as a result several leading businesses have chosen Kaiser Permanente to be their provider of choice.
- Eye on health care reform: Because of the legacy of the integrated delivery system, Dr. Wright and other Permanente leaders have been called on to help advise, influence, and shape the vision for a healthier Colorado.
- Transformation of care delivery: Dr. Wright led primary care operations for several years in the Colorado region of Kaiser Permanente. During this time, many initiatives such as panel management, chronic care management, and advanced methods of access were initiated.
Dr. Wright is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in 1980. He moved to Denver to pursue a residency in Family Medicine at Saint Joseph Hospital. Before joining Kaiser Permanente in 1986, Dr. Wright was the lead physician at the Denver Health Stapleton Clinic. During his 21-year career at Kaiser Permanente, Dr. Wright has held several leadership roles, including department chief, chief of primary care, associate medical director of primary care and quality, associate medical director of external relations and most recently, associate medical director of market and networks, which includes leadership as the medical director of Kaiser Permanente Colorado Springs. Dr. Wright also has a master's in public health from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He has an interest in what factors affect health care utilization.
Dr. Wright lives in Centennial, is married, and has three grown children. He and is wife are in love with Colorado and enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, and spending time in Colorado's great outdoors.
About Kaiser Permanente Colorado
The Colorado Permanente Medical Group has an exclusive contract with Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado to form Kaiser Permanente Colorado, the state's largest private, non-profit health care provider in the state. CPMG is Colorado's largest medical group practice within a health care organization, and employs 800 regular status physicians representing all medical specialties and major sub-specialties. More than 483,000 members in the Denver/Boulder and Colorado Springs areas have access to Kaiser Permanente care through an expanded suite of health care products. Kaiser Permanente physicians and care teams focus on prevention as well as managing disease, all in an effort to help patients live well and thrive. Visit us online at kp.org or get the latest in health news at our News Center.