Kaiser Permanente San Rafael medical group administrator wins North Bay Influential Women Awards
Patricia Kendall, medical group administrator at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center, is a 2022 winner of North Bay Business Journal’s Influential Women Awards. Here’s her story.
... I first worked at San Francisco General in the ICN and OB, Emergency and OB in Hawaii and finally Kaiser Permanente in emergency as staff, then leadership and now as the Medical Center Medical Group Administrator.
My journey has been a surprise … a good surprise. I did not plan my journey; I was offered opportunities through the decades and feel very fortunate to have had my career journey. I hope I have invited ownership of staff and physicians in what they do.
I appreciate participation in our life’s work. It was my goal to help all to be successful and if necessary they could understand why changes perhaps even a job somewhere else need to be made. There should be no surprise or misunderstanding of where they lost their way. We should part ways with mutual respect and caring.
I recognize our last several years have been the hardest we have ever faced. I understand how difficult it has been for medical professionals. My work over these years was to join KP with our community leaders to meet Covid head on. I believe everyone did.
It is now that we continue to face special challenges that the elongation of Covid brings. The leader in all of us will emerge over time and we will celebrate our new normal.
What have you learned about your leadership and how will it change the way you lead going forward?
I have learned that a leader and leadership is a quality and not a title. I share with every new hire I meet with that they are leaders in their own right. They will find themselves every day in situations with, in my case, patients, their families and their colleagues where they have the opportunity to direct, show the way and give clarity.
It requires that they become interested in people, who they are, how they respond, how you can help and how you can make a difference.
In the last few years of the pandemic leadership has become harder. There has been a loss of personal connection, relationships have been interrupted by working apart. It has challenged us to find new ways.
What are you most proud of regarding the achievements of your organization, your work and/or your community activities?
I work with unions in our organization and they worked well over the many years. I am proud that our partnership was strengthened during the pandemic where in many places it did not thrive or survive.
