Kaiser Permanente Names Marilyn Chow to Statewide Post.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--June 19, 2000

Marilyn Chow, RN, DNSc, FAAN, has been named Kaiser Permanente California's new vice president of Patient Care Services, effective June 1.

Chow will be responsible for setting strategic and operational direction for overall nursing statewide and for related patient care services. She will also be responsible for designing and implementing a new effort to bring recognition to the organization's role as a premier employer of nurses.

"Marilyn Chow brings many years of expertise to the challenging role of 'chief nurse' of Kaiser Permanente," said Ken Colling, senior vice president of Operations Resource Services. "She is a nationally recognized expert in the regulation of nursing practice, work force policy and primary care and has been a leader in promoting the roles of nurses in primary care and advanced practice."

"We are very pleased Marilyn Chow will be leading our efforts to not only maintain but expand our more than 50 years of leadership in the field of nursing," said Dick Pettingill, president. "We think this is the best place in California for nurses to work. It's important to keep attracting the best nurses because they are essential to providing quality health care and to keeping our members happy."

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Chow served in a wide variety of healthcare leadership roles, most recently as vice president of Patient Care Services for Summit and Alta Bates Medical Centers in Oakland and Berkeley.

Other jobs included serving as director for the Nursing Practice of the California Nurses Association, president/CEO of the National League for Health Care Inc., in New York, and dean, Clinical Affairs at Samuel Merritt College in Oakland.

Chow completed the registered nurse and pediatric nurse practitioner programs at the University of California, San Francisco, where she also earned her bachelor of science, master of science and doctor of nursing science degrees.

She has co-authored four books, including the award-winning "Handbook of Pediatric Primary Care," which has become both a professional and trade reference.

Chow is the recipient of numerous honors, including the UCSF Distinguished Alumni Award. She has served and serves on numerous national and state boards, advisory committees and task forces including the Technical Advisory Committee the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) and a member of the advisory board for Nurseweek Magazine.

She serves as the national program director of the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program and is a member of the Department of Health and Human Services National Advisory Committee for Nursing Education and Nursing Practice.

She also served as president of the San Francisco Social Services Commission. Chow is a founding member of the Asian American Pacific Islanders Nurses Association. She has also served on the governing council of the American Academy of Nursing. Chow resides in San Francisco.

Kaiser Permanente, California, is a prepaid, group practice health maintenance organization (HMO) serving more than 5.9 million members throughout the state.

More than 7,000 Permanente medical group physicians in both The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in Northern California and the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG), as well as 55,300 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals employees, provide care to Health Plan members.

There are 28 major medical centers organized into 12 service areas throughout California.

The Web site is www.kaiserpermanente.org/california.