Thirty-two clinical leaders have been chosen to participate in the California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) Health Care Leadership Program, which provides the leadership skills necessary to meet the challenges facing our state’s health care system, the foundation announced today.

The leadership program is a part-time fellowship that offers clinically trained health care professionals hands-on opportunities to learn the decision making, strategic planning, and executive skills they need to excel as leaders.

Fellows attend six seminars and participate in ongoing learning activities during the two-year program. Graduates gain unique insight into the trends and challenges facing health care professionals and leave prepared for new levels of leadership within their organizations.

With the addition of this class, more than 400 doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care professionals have participated. Nationally recognized health care and leadership development experts from the Center for Health Professions at UCSF and the UCLA Anderson School of Management teach the curriculum. Alumni become part of a network across California that continues to collaborate and share information.

“Participants in the CHCF Health Care Leadership Program show an extraordinary commitment to making their organizations better,” said Sandra R. Hernández, MD, president and CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation. “As a result, the people of California will benefit from an improved health care delivery system.”

“The CHCF Health Care Leadership Program has been personally and organizationally transformative,” describes Ron Chapman, MD, MPH, director and state health officer at the California Department of Public Health and a program alumnus. “As I travel across California I am always reassured to walk into a meeting and be greeted by another graduate of the program. I immediately know we will speak the same language and share a vision for improving the health of all Californians.”

About the Center for Health Professions at UCSF

Since 1992, the Center has been dedicated to transforming health care by delivering leadership programs to empower change agents at every level and within all sectors of the health care system; and internationally recognized, unbiased research to help health care decision makers understand today’s workforce issues and design actionable strategies to solve them. For more information, visit http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu.

About the California HealthCare Foundation

The California HealthCare Foundation works as a catalyst to fulfill the promise of better health care for all Californians. We support ideas and innovations that improve quality, increase efficiency, and lower the costs of care.