Michelle Gaskill-Hames has leveraged her diverse background as an integrated healthcare delivery system executive, hospital CEO, strategic planning consultant and registered nurse to deliver innovative vision, drive cultural transformation and implement sustainable outcomes at healthcare organizations of various sizes and scales. She has a passion for designing systems of care that address inequities for vulnerable populations. A visionary leader, she has a track record of inspiring others to elevated standards of performance through engagement and accountability.
Michelle currently serves as Chief Operating Officer/Chief Strategy, Growth and Experience Officer for Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California and Hawaii markets. In this role, she is responsible for the 9 hospital and health plan service areas located in Los Angeles, Ventura and Kern Counties. She also leads the growth and consumer experience strategies in the Southern California and Hawaii markets.
Michelle joined Kaiser Permanente in 2016. During her tenure, she has been promoted 5 times – each to progressively larger scopes of responsibility including Senior Vice President/Area Manager for the Redwood City and Greater Southern Alameda, interim Regional Chief Nurse Executive, and Senior Vice President of Hospital and Health Plan Operations for the Northern California region, where she served as COVID Incident Commander for the past 2 years and led operations across the 21 hospitals.
Michelle’s progressive advancements have resulted from her unique ability to engage, connect and bridge perspectives and influence change across all levels of healthcare organizations from the bedside to the board room. She began her career as a neonatal intensive care nurse before spending 8 years in healthcare management consulting at PwC and Huron Consulting. She has also held leadership roles across a myriad of hospital/health systems including academic medical centers, community hospitals, tertiary, and urban acute and ambulatory facilities.
Her strengths include strategic planning, operational execution, financial and cultural turnarounds, and building high performing teams. In one of her previous executive roles, she led the charge to bring profitability to an organization that had been suffering financial losses for over a decade. She achieved net income improvement of more than 30% through both top line-revenue enhancements and expense management, while elevating quality performance and employee engagement.
Michelle is passionate about her family and dedicated to civic and community engagement. She serves on several professional and community boards including the California Hospital Association executive board, the national Healthcare Standards Institute, the Integrated Healthcare Association, and the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco. Her husband, Charley, is a Presiding Bishop in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Together, they are committed to addressing healthcare and social disparities in the communities where they serve and work.
