Quality Talks 2023: Bechara Choucair

Dr. Bechara Choucair is the senior vice president and chief health officer for Kaiser Permanente, one of America’s leading integrated health systems with more than 12.5 million members. His work includes the creation of the nation’s largest social health network to meet the housing, food and transportation needs of Kaiser Permanente’s members. He also manages the organization’s community health portfolio, including $3.4 billion dedicated to supporting medical financial assistance and charitable care as well as grants and community health initiatives.

From January through November 2021, Dr. Choucair served as the White House national COVID-19 vaccinations coordinator. In that role he focused on coordinating the timely, safe, and equitable administration of COVID-19 vaccinations for the U.S. population. During his tenure, more than 450 million doses of the vaccine were administered nationwide. He returned to Kaiser Permanente in December 2021. Dr. Choucair served as Chicago’s Public Health Commissioner from 2009 to 2014.

Among other accolades, Dr. Choucair has been named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 50 Most Influential Health Executives in the U.S., one of the Most Influential People in Healthcare, and as one of the Top 25 Innovators in Healthcare. A family physician by training, he completed his Family Practice Residency at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He holds an MD from the American University of Beirut and a master’s degree in health care management from the University of Texas at Dallas.