Physician Executive Profile: Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H.

Occasionally, we will feature a physician executive profile so that you can see how some of these individuals navigated their careers to an executive level. Today, we feature:

Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer is Director of the Institute for Population Health Improvement, UC Davis Health System, and a Distinguished Professor in the UC Davis School of Medicine (Department of Emergency Medicine) and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.

Dr. Kizer’s professional experience includes positions in academia and the public and private sectors. His previous positions have included: President, CEO and Chairman of Medsphere Systems Corporation, the nation’s leading commercial provider of open source healthcare information technology; founding President and CEO, National Quality Forum, a Washington, DC-based quality improvement and consensus standards setting organization; Under Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and chief executive officer of the nation’s largest healthcare system; Director, California Department of Health Services; and Director, Emergency Medical Services Authority, State of California. He has served on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and as Chairman of the Board of The California Wellness Foundation, the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted to health promotion and disease prevention, as well as on the governing boards of managed care and health IT companies, several foundations and various professional associations and non-profit organizations. He also has worked in various capacities over the years with numerous foreign countries on health-related matters.

Dr. Kizer is an honors graduate of Stanford University and UCLA, and the recipient of two honorary doctorates. He is board certified in six medical specialties and/or subspecialties, and has authored over 400 original articles, book chapters and other reports. He is a fellow or distinguished fellow of 11 professional societies and a member of Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society, Delta Omega National Honorary Public Health Society, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Public Administration. He is also a Fellow National of The Explorers Club, a founding member and past president of the international Wilderness Medical Society, a former U.S. Navy diver, and a nationally recognized expert on diving and aquatic sports medicine and the medical aspects of wilderness activities.

His accomplishments have been recognized with dozens of awards, including the Award of Excellence, American Public Health Association; Distinguished Service Medal, American Legion; Earnest A. Codman Award, The Joint Commission; Gustav O. Lienhard Medal and Award, Institute of Medicine; Justin Ford Kimball Innovator Award, American Hospital Association; Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Public Service, American Medical Association; John D. Chase Award for Physician Executive Excellence, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States; Exceptional Service Award, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Rodney T. West Literary Achievement Award, American College of Physician Executives; Special Recognition Award, March of Dimes; Rear Admiral William S. Parsens Award for Scientific and Technical Progress, Navy League of the United States; Torch Award, Coalition to Protect All Californians from Tobacco; Founders’ Award, American College of Medical Quality; and the Award of Honor, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

He has been selected as one of the ‘100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare’ by Modern Healthcare magazine on several occasions, and his work has been featured in Time, BusinessWeek, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and numerous other magazines, newspapers and national television shows.