Paul Swenson joined Kaiser Permanente as Senior Vice President and Chief Strategic Planning Officer in 2012, with responsibilities including strategic planning, capital planning, delivery system planning and enterprise risk management (ERM). In 2013, he was named Chief Strategy Officer, and in 2016 was given the added responsibility of overseeing Kaiser Permanente’s research work and KP International (KPI). In 2020, Paul was named EVP/Chief Administrative Officer, with responsibility for strategy, business development, communications, government relations, innovation, ERM, KP Ventures, and KPI. In June 2024, he stepped down from his EVP/CAO role and became a Senior Advisor to the organization focusing on strategic projects. He joined the MidPen Board in 2026.
Prior to Kaiser, Paul was with John Muir Health where he served as President/CEO for the John Muir Physician Network in addition to Executive Vice President/Administration. During his tenure at John Muir, at various times his EVP/Administration responsibilities included finance, human resources, marketing, strategic planning, information technology, legal, compliance and community benefit.
Previously, Paul was with Blue Shield of California in several positions including CFO, SVP for the Northern Region business unit and EVP-Corporate Development. Between 1990 and 1998, he held various general management positions with Aetna’s health plan organization in California. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer for Bay Pacific Health Plan, and served as a senior manager for the Amherst/Ernst and Young healthcare consulting practice.
Paul holds a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.