Kaiser Taps Public Affairs Chief to Spearhead National Expansion

OAKLAND, CA – January 15, 2026 – In a significant strategic move, healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente announced the appointment of Beth Leonard to the newly created role of Senior Vice President and Chief Public Affairs Officer. The decision signals a clear intent by the integrated, not-for-profit health system to centralize its influence and aggressively shape the national conversation around the future of American healthcare.

Leonard, a veteran strategist with deep experience in both corporate healthcare and national policy advocacy, will assume the role on February 2. She is tasked with unifying all of Kaiser Permanente's communications, government relations, and community relations activities under a single banner. This consolidation comes at a pivotal moment as the organization embarks on an ambitious plan to expand its distinct brand of value-based care across the country.

She will report to Sam Glick, Executive Vice President of Enterprise Strategy and Business Development, who highlighted the strategic importance of the hire.

"Beth is an extraordinary communications strategist and skilled advocate for high quality, affordable health care," Glick said in a statement. "Her leadership of our new public affairs function will help ensure Kaiser Permanente continues to lead the national dialogue regarding health care transformation, as we strive to make our distinct brand of value-based care available to more people and communities."

A Strategic Unification of Influence

The creation of a Chief Public Affairs Officer role is more than a simple executive appointment; it represents a fundamental restructuring of how Kaiser Permanente engages with the public, policymakers, and the industry at large. Historically, while the organization has always been active in public affairs, these functions were often managed across different departments. By centralizing them under Leonard, Kaiser Permanente is creating a more powerful, coherent, and agile voice to navigate an increasingly complex and turbulent healthcare landscape.

This move is directly tied to the organization's stated ambition to expand its integrated care model, which combines health coverage with care delivery under one roof. This model, which incentivizes prevention and coordinated care over the volume of services, has long been touted as a successful example of value-based care. As the national healthcare system grapples with soaring costs and fragmented delivery, Kaiser Permanente sees an opportunity to position its approach as the preeminent solution. A unified public affairs strategy is essential to making that case effectively on the federal, state, and local levels.

The Architect of Advocacy

To lead this charge, Kaiser Permanente has selected a leader whose career path seems tailor-made for the challenge. Beth Leonard brings more than two decades of experience navigating the intricate intersections of healthcare, policy, and public perception.

Most recently, she served as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance, a global pharmacy and retail giant. In that role, she managed the full spectrum of external engagement, from media relations and government affairs to policy and community partnerships. This experience provides her with a keen understanding of the communications challenges facing a large, complex healthcare-adjacent enterprise.

Prior to that, Leonard was the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at EmblemHealth, a New York-based not-for-profit health plan and provider. Her tenure there is particularly relevant, giving her firsthand experience within an organization whose structure mirrors aspects of Kaiser Permanente's integrated model. Her work at America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the industry's powerful trade association, as Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, solidified her credentials as a formidable policy advocate at the national level. Rounding out her resume is early-career work on numerous political campaigns, providing a ground-level understanding of the mechanics of public persuasion and policymaking.

This diverse background—spanning corporate communications, health plan operations, and national policy advocacy—equips Leonard with a unique skill set to lead Kaiser Permanente's ambitious external affairs agenda.

Driving the 'Value-Based' Expansion

The most critical component of Leonard's new mandate will be supporting Kaiser Permanente's national expansion, primarily through its new non-profit entity, Risant Health. Launched with a multi-billion-dollar commitment, Risant Health's mission is to acquire community-based health systems and help them transition to a value-based, integrated care model, leveraging Kaiser's decades of expertise.

This expansion is not without its challenges. It requires convincing potential partner systems, local communities, and regulatory bodies of the benefits of the Kaiser model. It also invites scrutiny and skepticism from competitors and critics who question whether the model, which has thrived in specific markets for decades, can be successfully replicated nationwide. Leonard's public affairs function will be on the front lines of this effort.

Her team will be responsible for crafting the narrative around Risant Health, articulating its value proposition, and navigating the complex communications and political hurdles that accompany any large-scale healthcare acquisition. Furthermore, she will be tasked with advocating for a policy environment that favors value-based payment models over the traditional fee-for-service system, a critical condition for the long-term success of Kaiser's expansion strategy.

Navigating a Transforming Healthcare Landscape

Leonard's appointment comes as the entire U.S. healthcare sector is in a state of profound flux. The industry is being reshaped by powerful forces, including the rapid integration of artificial intelligence, the mainstreaming of telehealth, persistent workforce shortages, and ever-present cybersecurity threats. Central to this transformation is the systemic shift away from paying for the quantity of medical services toward paying for quality outcomes and patient health.

Kaiser Permanente's strategic realignment is a clear attempt not just to respond to these trends, but to actively lead and define them. By installing a seasoned public affairs chief, the organization is arming itself to better articulate its vision for a more integrated, technology-enabled, and value-driven future for healthcare. Leonard's leadership will be pivotal as the organization seeks to prove that its 80-year-old model is not just a historical success story, but the blueprint for the future of American health.