Kavitha Bhatia, MD, MMM, FAAP

Chair and President, Prime Healthcare Foundation

Chief Medical Officer of Strategy

Kavitha Bhatia, MD, is the Chair and President of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity dedicated to improving healthcare through its hospitals and educational and charitable initiatives. Fifteen of Prime Healthcare’s 45 hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation and provide millions of dollars annually in quality healthcare, philanthropy and community service. The Prime Healthcare Foundation, through a $60 million donation, established the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), a private, non-profit medical school in Southern California in 2018 with a mission to advance medicine, improve the health of communities and inspire service in underserved areas. Dr. Bhatia serves as Founding Vice Chair of the CUSM Board of Trustees.

In addition to her role as Chair of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, Dr. Bhatia also serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Strategy for Prime Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest health systems, where she leads strategic innovation, system-wide value creation and excellence initiatives. Dr. Bhatia was recognized among the “100 CMOs to Know” in Becker’s Hospital Review, 2020, and selected for the Los Angeles Business Journal's prestigious "Top Women Leaders in Healthcare", 2020.

Committed to improving the health and lives of others, Dr. Bhatia is a dedicated philanthropist. Her experiences have been broad, caring for the sick and dying in the slums of Calcutta to teaching inner city youth. For her work with the Missionaries of Charity, Dr. Bhatia was awarded a Miraculous Medallion with Mother Teresa. She has served in advisory roles for national and global causes such as the World Children’s Initiative and Project Heart Uganda. Dr. Bhatia is also the Executive Director of the Dr. Prem Reddy Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to improving healthcare and providing educational opportunities which include annual scholarship programs for underserved students and educational grants.

Dr. Bhatia graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Bhatia earned her medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine, graduating with Honors and Letters of Distinction in Doctoring. Her early clinical career and research focused on pediatric transplant patients before practicing general pediatrics, and she is a Fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Bhatia also holds a Masters of Medical Management from the USC Marshall School of Business, and has been a scholar at world-renowned institutions such as Mass General, Boston Children’s Hospital and the All India Institute of Medicine.