Dr. Ronald L. Copeland, MD, FACS
Board Member
Ronald L. Copeland, MD, FACS, is senior vice president of National Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity strategy and policy and chief equity, inclusion, and diversity officer for Kaiser Permanente.
Through multiple collaborations, he leads Kaiser Permanente's program-wide efforts to ensure our strategic vision for equity, inclusion, and diversity is successfully implemented to drive strategic business and mission outcomes, empower communities we serve, and result in all Kaiser Permanente members achieving health and health care outcomes that are high quality, equitable, and increasingly more affordable.
Dr. Copeland is a member of Kaiser Permanente’s Executive Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Council, a group composed of the Chairman/CEO and other C-level leaders who oversee executive accountability for embedding the equity, inclusion, and diversity strategy throughout the organization.
A recently retired board-certified general surgeon, Dr. Copeland joined Kaiser Permanente in 1988 after a six-year honorable tour of duty in the United States Air Force Medical Corps. Dr. Copeland served as president and executive medical director of the Ohio Permanente Medical Group prior to assuming his current role in 2012.
The Rochester, N.Y., native earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and his medical degree from University of Cincinnati Medical College. He completed his residency in general surgery at State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Dr. Copeland is a board member of Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, the National Organization on Disability and the Center for Healthcare Innovation; an advisory board member for the Centre for Global Inclusion; a member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Equity Advisory Group; and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.