Press Releases: National
December 22, 2008
Kaiser Permanente Names Christopher Ohman as Senior Vice President, Health Plan Operations, Regions Outside of California
OAKLAND, Calif. – Christopher Ohman has joined Kaiser Permanente as senior vice president, Health Plan Operations, for the organization's regions outside of California. The announcement was made by Arthur M. Southam, MD, executive vice president for Kaiser Permanente's Health Plan Operations.
Ohman begins his new role at Kaiser Permanente effective Feb. 2, 2009. He comes to Kaiser Permanente after having served as president and CEO of the California Association of Health Plans, a trade association representing 40 health plans including Kaiser Permanente.
Ohman replaces Peter Andruszkiewicz, who earlier this year was named president of Kaiser Permanente of Georgia. In his new role at Kaiser Permanente, Ohman will work closely with regional, functional and market segment leaders to develop, manage and coordinate health plan activities and capabilities that will drive membership growth, customer service and financial performance in Kaiser Permanente's six regions outside California., which represent more than 2 million members. He will be located at Kaiser Permanente’s Oakland headquarters.
"I am very pleased to welcome Chris to Kaiser Permanente," Southam said. "He brings a breadth and depth of experience in the health care industry, as well as expertise in health plan operations, finance, health information technology, business execution and public policy. I am confident he will be an asset to Kaiser Permanente, our people and our customers."
Southam continued, "Chris has a track record of building high-performing teams, including the team at CAHP, and the team there will continue to serve California health plans well."
Ohman joins Kaiser Permanente with more than 20 years of experience in health care and finance. Throughout his career, he has held a number of senior level positions in finance and operations management for health plans, physician groups and in financial services.
Before joining CAHP in 2005, Ohman was chief executive and senior vice president, Commercial Business Unit, Blue Shield of California, which had 1.8 million members under his leadership. Prior to that position, Ohman was co-founder and CEO of Capmetrics, LLC, a financial management consulting and rating firm for medical groups. He also served in shorter-term roles as chief financial officer of Health Systems Design, a provider of information systems solutions, and interim chief financial officer/consultant of Brown & Toland Medical Group.
Ohman also has served as the chief financial officer and treasurer of Orange Coast Managed Care Services, Inc., an independent practice association; vice president of Take Care Health Plan, and vice president of The Chase Manhattan Bank.
He holds a master's degree in public affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and a bachelor's degree from Lewis and Clark College.
Ohman's photo is available on request.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.
