President, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals of the Northwest;
Former President & CEO, KentuckyOne Health
Confab Committee

Ruth Williams-Brinkley, RN, is the president, Northwest, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals. In this role, Williams-Brinkley oversees all of Kaiser Permanente’s care delivery and health plan operations in Oregon and markets in Vancouver and Longview/Kelso, Washington.

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente in November 2017, Williams-Brinkley served as CEO of KentuckyOne Health, Kentucky’s largest integrated health system. KentuckyOne is a division of Catholic Health Initiatives, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems. KentuckyOne was created in 2012 by the merger of Jewish Hospital & Saints Mary and Elizabeth HealthCare and Saint Joseph Health System. In 2013, the University of Louisville Hospital and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center joined KentuckyOne after a successful state-approved public procurement process.

Williams-Brinkley successfully oversaw post-merger systems integration and optimization and expanded signature programs in heart and cancer care for the benefit of citizens across Kentucky.

Prior to her tenure with KentuckyOne, Williams-Brinkley served as president and CEO of Carondelet Health Network in Tucson, Arizona, and as president and CEO of Memorial Health Care System in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Williams-Brinkley holds bachelor’s and Master of Science degrees from De Paul University, an honorary doctoral degree from Spaulding University, and is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She has consistently appeared on Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare and Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare, and was named one of Becker’s Most Admired CEOs.