News release: Colorado - Denver/Boulder

October 18, 2004

For more information, call:
Jacque Murphy Montgomery
Kaiser Permanente, Media Relations Coordinator
Phone: (303) 344-7410
E-mail: Jacque.Montgomery@kp.org

Kaiser Permanente Colorado president leaving health plan

President and CEO Chris Binkley to focus on national health plan initiatives

Denver, CO – Chris Binkley, the president and CEO of Kaiser Permanente Colorado, is stepping down after 24 years with the health care delivery organization—the last 5 1/2 as president of the Colorado Region. He will continue to lead Colorado's largest private health provider until his replacement is named. This is expected around the first of the year.

Binkley plans to assume a role at Kaiser Permanente's national level, working on a variety of priorities including national bargaining with unions, the implementation of the new electronic medical record and membership growth.

Binkley has served as regional and divisional president for Kaiser Permanente for the last 16 years, including a stint in the Georgia Region.

"I'm proud that I can hand to my successor a region that is well-positioned to continue to thrive in the marketplace," Binkley said. "I want to thank the staff and physicians who have made the Colorado Region a national leader in quality."

Kaiser Permanente Program Offices in Oakland, Calif., will coordinate the search for Binkley's replacement, with involvement from the Kaiser Permanente Colorado leadership and physician group. Jack Cochran, M.D., remains executive medical director of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group, the physician group that provides care exclusively to Kaiser Permanente members.

Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit health plan and the largest private health care provider in Colorado. For the second year in a row, the National Committee for Quality Assurance has rated Kaiser Permanente Colorado among the top ten accredited health care organizations in the country for clinical quality. Kaiser Permanente cares for more than 417,000 members in the Denver/Boulder and Colorado Springs areas. Kaiser Permanente physicians and care teams focus on prevention as well as curing disease, all in an effort to help patients live well and thrive.