Bechara Choucair

Bechara Choucair is Chief Community Health Officer of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals.^[1] He previously served as Senior Vice President of Safety Net & Community Health at Trinity Health in Livonia, Michigan, and before that, was appointed Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health from 2009 to 2014.^[2]

Kaiser Permanente (2016 - Present)

Choucair is Chief Community Health Officer for Kaiser Permanente.^[3]

In April of 2018, Choucair led the mission-based nonprofit organization’s commitment of $2 million to researching gun injury prevention. As part of this public health initiative, Choucair serves as a co-lead on the Kaiser Permanente Taskforce on Firearm Injury Prevention.^[4]

In May of 2018, Choucair announced Kaiser Permanente’s $200 million impact investing commitment to address affordable housing and prevent displacement, a precursor to homelessness.^[5]

Chicago Department of Public Health (2009 - 2014)

Choucair was appointed as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health on November 25, 2009, by Mayor Richard M. Daley,^[6][7] and reaffirmed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel upon his election. He stepped down from the post in December 2014.^[8] serving over 2.7 million residents in Chicago.^[9]

Together with Mayor Emanuel, Choucair launched Healthy Chicago in August 2011,^[10] the City's first comprehensive public health agenda.^[11][12] in different Chicago neighborhoods.

Choucair previously held an appointment at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.^[13]

Awards

• 2010, Community Leadership Award, Midwest Asian Health Association^[14]
• 2011, Healthcare Community Leadership Award, The Chicago Health Executives Forum
• 2012, Friend for Life Award, Howard Brown Health Center^[15]
• 2012, Chicago's "40 under 40," Crain's Chicago Business^[16]
• 2014, Housing Champion Award, Metropolitan Tenants Organization

Select publications

• • Survey of a Bekaa Community Health Needs, LMJ 47:1:13-17, 1999, Jamal N, Choucair B, Khalil H, Hamadeh G.
  • Health Care for the Homeless in America, Am Fam Physician, 2006 Oct 1;74(7):1132-8.
  • Homelessness and Healthcare: Considerations for Evaluation, Management, and Support within the Primary Care Domain, Disease-a-Month, 2010 Dec 56(12):719-733. Koon A, Kantayya V, Choucair B.
  • Program to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening in Low-Income, Racially Diverse Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Annals of Family Medicine, 2012 Sept/October 10 (5): 412-417. Jean-Jacques M., Kaleba E., Gatta J., Gracia G., Ryan E., Choucair, B.
  • Chicago Health Atlas: Engaging in Public Health Surveillance Beyond the Confines of the Local Health Department, NACCHO Exchange, winter 2013 12(1). Jones R, Choucair B., O’Neil D., Kho A. Regional Extension Center.
• Select Abstracts
  • An Innovative Governmental Approach to Childhood Obesity Prevention in Chicago: The Inter-Departmental Task Force on Childhood Obesity, 2010. American Public Health Association 138th Annual Meeting and Expo. Choucair B, Harrington J, Herd J, Becker A, Bozlak C.
  • Poverty Medicine Collaborative: Global Health Experience for Medical Students. 2008. American Academy of Family Physicians Global Health Conference. Choucair B, Koon A.

References

External links

• Chicago Department of Public Health
• Crain's 40 under 40: 2012