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OAKLAND, Calif. (May 21, 2021) – Blue Shield of California today announced Arthur Chen, M.D., has joined its Board of Directors, lending his national leadership and expertise in community health and health equity to the nonprofit health plan.
Dr. Chen is a practicing family physician at Asian Health Services, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Oakland, providing care to low-income, recent immigrants with limited English proficiency for three decades. As a former public health officer, he also serves as a coach and advisor at the Center for Health Leadership & Practice of the Public Health Institute and has collaborated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help improve community health through intersectional and inter-sectoral collaboration.
“As the child of immigrants, I have spent my career advocating for health equity for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other underserved populations,” Dr. Chen said. “I am honored to join Blue Shield’s board of directors and look forward to helping create a healthcare system that delivers accessible, high-quality care that addresses social determinants of health and is sustainably affordable for everyone.”
Chen’s appointment follows the appointment of Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan in January to the health plan’s board and last fall’s election of Kristina (Kris) Leslie as the first woman to chair the board. Blue Shield’s board of directors is now comprised of seven women and seven men, nearly half of which are comprised of people of color.
“Dr. Chen is a mission-driven family practitioner and leader in public health, who drives strategic alignment and systems change while promoting public-private collaborations,” Leslie said. “His expertise and knowledge will help us greatly, and we all look forward to working with Dr. Chen to help reimagine a more equitable health care system worthy of our family and friends.”
In addition to his family practice in Oakland, Dr. Chen has served as the Chief Medical and Population Health Officer at Applied Research Works Inc., assisting with Whole Person Care Management and the development of decision-support tools. He also has previously served as the Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director at the Alameda Alliance for Health, organizing data reports to identify and track racial and ethnic health disparities while promoting prevention and improved quality care. Dr. Chen received his medical degree from the University of California, Davis, and completed his residency at the Residency Program in Social Medicine, Montefiore Hospital and Medical Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York City.
Blue Shield of California is a leader in diversity and gender equity, with the Board of Directors leading the way: four of the five standing board committees are now led by women. The health plan also achieved pay equity for its employees across gender and ethnicity in 2018 and has a balanced representation of women and men in leadership roles (Director and above). Blue Shield was recently recognized as a top U.S. company on the 2021 National Diversity Council Index and ranked #1 on DiversityInc.’s Top 50 Regionals list for the second year in a row.
About Blue Shield of California
Blue Shield of California strives to create a healthcare system worthy of its family and friends that is sustainably affordable. Blue Shield of California is a tax paying, nonprofit, independent member of the Blue Shield Association with over 4.5 million members, over 7,500 employees and more than $21 billion in annual revenue. Founded in 1939 in San Francisco and now headquartered in Oakland, Blue Shield of California and its affiliates provide health, dental, vision, Medicaid and Medicare healthcare service plans in California. The company has contributed more than $150 million to Blue Shield of California Foundation in the last four years to have an impact on California communities.
For more news about Blue Shield of California, please visit news.blueshieldca.com.