Health Systems and Population Health

Research Interests

Leadership effectiveness in complex health organizations

Bio

Cheryl Scott is president emerita of Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Cooperative, one of the nation’s largest consumer-governed health care systems. She served as president and CEO from 1997-2004, and had also served as regional vice president and executive vice president/chief operating officer. She joined the organization in 1979.

In her chief executive role, Scott crafted and executed a major repositioning strategy. Demonstrated results included a doubling of net worth while achieving unprecedented improvements in patient satisfaction, physician commitment and staff loyalty.

Scott has been active on many community and national boards. At the national level, she chaired the Alliance of Community Health Plans and the Healthcare Forum and served on the board and executive committee of America’s Health Insurance Plans. She is currently board chair for the Health Technology Center and is a member of the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Redesigning Health Insurance Benefits, Payment and Performance Improvement Programs. She is also a trustee for the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund.

Her community interests center on issues of the uninsured and public education. She currently chairs King County’s Blue Ribbon Committee On Election Reform. She is past chair of the Alliance for Education and chair of the External Advisory Committee for the University of Washington’s Health Administration Program.

Education

MHA University of Washington, 1977
BA Communications, University of Washington, 1975