Originally published at about.kaiserpermanente.org. Kaiser Permanente is a Hall of Fame company.
Patricia Egwuatu, DO, of Kaiser Permanente in Washington has been named to the Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list, a prestigious award honoring individuals under the age of 40 who stand out in their respective industry for their bold leadership and groundbreaking work.
Dr. Patricia Egwuatu is a family medicine physician and the diversity, equity and inclusion faculty co-lead for Kaiser Permanente in Washington. In this role, Dr. Egwuatu is both leading and implementing practices to address health care disparities and making connections to better address racism in medicine.
“We are incredibly proud of Dr. Egwuatu for this well-deserved honor and are pleased to join our community in celebrating her accomplishments in medicine,” said Michael Vaughan, MD, Executive Medical Director of Operations for the Washington Permanente Medical Group. “Her tireless advocacy and commitment to making health care more equitable for all of our patients has enriched and improved the field of medicine throughout our region.”
In the past year, Dr. Egwuatu has spearheaded several programs at Kaiser Permanente designed to eliminate health care disparities experienced by diverse communities. One such program Dr. Egwuatu co-designed and oversees is the Kaiser Permanente Family Medicine Residency RPrIDE (meaning residency promoting inclusion, diversity and equity) Group. RPrIDE creates physician-led processes and residency projects that help people recognize bias and racism in health care, and better equip resident family physicians to provide equitable care to their patients.
The PSBJ 40 Under 40 program, now in its 24th year, recognizes regional leaders across industries who are helping shape the Puget Sound region for the better.
Dr. Egwuatu will be honored at a reception in September for Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40 award recipients.