| Prime Healthcare, one of the nation’s premier hospital systems, has appointed Kavitha Bhatia, MD as its first Chief Medical Officer of Strategy. In this role, Dr. Bhatia will develop and implement strategic initiatives that advance the mission and long-term success of Prime Healthcare. |
Prime Healthcare, one of the nation’s premier hospital systems, has appointed Kavitha Bhatia, MD as its first Chief Medical Officer of Strategy.
In this role, Dr. Bhatia will develop and implement strategic initiatives that advance the mission and long-term success of Prime Healthcare.
Dr. Kavitha Bhatia has served as Vice President of Clinical Transformation and Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, leading the transformation of the Prime Healthcare system during a time of unprecedented growth. “With Dr. Bhatia’s leadership, Prime has grown and built the infrastructure to leverage our unique value and scale. Her contributions have led to improvements in structure, process and quality in nearly every area of our organization,” said Prem Reddy, MD, Chairman, President and CEO of Prime. “Dr. Bhatia is the ideal choice to develop our most important strategic programs as Prime Healthcare continues to grow and serve communities across the nation.”
Since Prime’s founding in 2001, the health system has restored 45 community hospitals to financial health, saving over 35,000 jobs in 14 states, and along the way earned countless awards and recognitions for quality care and demonstrated excellence. Annually, Prime Healthcare hospitals are recognized among the nation’s best by The Leapfrog Group, Healthgrades, and IBM Watson Health.
“Prime Healthcare has grown exponentially in recent years and we have built a scalable platform to support our national presence and mission of service,” said Dr. Kavitha Bhatia. “We are now poised for growth and focused on system-wide value creation as we develop innovative and sustainable strategies to ensure Prime’s continued success. In a time when healthcare is rapidly evolving, we have to reimagine a brighter and better future for care so that we may bring health and hope to more communities.”
Kavitha Bhatia, MD, is the Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity dedicated to improving healthcare through its hospitals and educational and charitable initiatives. Fifteen of Prime Healthcare’s 45 hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation and provide millions of dollars annually in quality healthcare, philanthropy and community service. The Prime Healthcare Foundation, through a $60 million donation, established the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), a private, non-profit medical school in Southern California in 2018 with a mission to advance medicine, improve the health of communities and inspire service in underserved areas. Dr. Bhatia serves as Founding Vice Chair of the CUSM Board of Trustees.
In addition to her role as Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, Dr. Bhatia also serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Strategy for Prime Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest health systems, where she leads strategic innovation, system-wide value creation and excellence initiatives.
Committed to improving the health and lives of others, Dr. Bhatia is a dedicated philanthropist. Her experiences have been broad, caring for the sick and dying in the slums of Calcutta to teaching inner city youth. For her work with the Missionaries of Charity, Dr. Bhatia was awarded a Miraculous Medallion from Mother Teresa. She has served in advisory roles for national and global causes such as the World Children’s Initiative and Project Heart Uganda. Dr. Bhatia is also the Executive Director of the Dr. Prem Reddy Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to improving healthcare and providing educational opportunities which include annual scholarship programs for underserved students and educational grants.
Dr. Kavitha Bhatia graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bhatia earned her medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine, graduating with Honors and Letters of Distinction in Doctoring. Her early clinical career and research focused on pediatric transplant patients before practicing general pediatrics, and she is a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Bhatia also holds a Masters of Medical Management from the USC Marshall School of Business, and has been a scholar at world-renowned institutions such as Mass General, Boston Children’s Hospital and the All India Institute of Medicine.
Kavitha Bhatia 