Bernard J. Tyson, the Chief Executive and Chairman of Kaiser Permanente, died at the age of 60 on Sunday, November 10. His death came as a shock to the company since there was no previous indication of any severe illnesses that Mr. Tyson had.
Bernard James Tyson was born in Vallejo, California, on January 20, 1959. He was one of seven children of Billie Tyson and Moses. His father was a part-time minister and carpenter. Mr. Tyson says he developed an interest in healthcare due to his mother’s healthcare problems.
Tyson worked for the Oakland-based health organization for more than 30 years, starting in the medical records department and working his way to become a hospital administrator. He also held several executive posts in the company until finally becoming Chief Executive in 2013. Mr. Tyson became the Chairman of the company only one year later in 2014.
Mr. Gregory Adams, who is the Group President and Executive Vice President, would now serve as the interim Chief Executive and Chairman of the company.
By the time Mr. Tyson took over the operations at Kaiser, which was founded in 1945, the institute evolved from an H.M.O or classic health maintenance organization into one of the most prestigious healthcare groups in the US, combining a network of clinics and hospitals by relying on its self-sufficient nonprofit health plan, in which doctors investigate and develop strategic treatment plans for their patients.
Kaiser was a forward-thinking company and believed that technology was the way forward. Under Mr. Tyson’s tenure, the health organization invested billions in technology and contributed to the development of electronic health records. During this time, the concept of electronic records was relatively new and Mr. Tyson’s peers heavily opposed him.
Mr. Tyson, being the visionary he was, understood that the potential of electronic health records would prove to be extremely helpful in the coming years.
During his time as the Chairman, Mr. Tyson expanded Kaiser by assimilating with another highly-respected health institute called the Group Health Cooperative in 2017. Kaiser’s membership didn’t surpass its peak of the 1990s, but by adding Group Health Cooperative, the total number of members boosted to over 12.3 million, a huge addition from 9.1 million.
Mr. Tyson was one of the country’s most influential healthcare executives and was vocal about reducing healthcare costs. He believed in improving the health of not only Kaiser’s members, but also the communities in which Kaiser operated. He had the organization address broad issues such as food insecurity, gun violence, and housing shortages.
Kaiser also holds the distinction of being the first African-American Chief Executive. He didn’t shy away from using his position to address racial issues, writing that despite reaching the position of the Chief Executive, the issues of race in America were a reality.
