Chair, Richard D. Cordova, FACHE
Richard D. Cordova has more than four decades of accomplishment as a healthcare executive at hospital and healthcare systems in California.
He joined Children’s Hospital Los Angeles as President and Chief Operating Officer in April 2005. In April 2006, he became President and CEO and a member of the Board of Trustees. After ten years of service he retired from CHLA in August 2015. He is now spending his time on various fiduciary and advisory Boards.
Before joining Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Mr. Cordova was President of the Southern California Region for Kaiser Permanente where he guided a three million member Health Plan and Health Care Network of eleven hospitals and 52 medical office facilities.
He served as a Chairman Officer of the American College of Healthcare Executives for 2014-17 and served as Chairman for 2015-2016. ACHE is an international professional society of more than 40,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations.
Mr. Cordova has served on the board of the California Children’s Hospital Association (CCHA) and served as its chair for 2011-2012, the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of the California Hospital Association (CHA) where he received a life membership award. He also served on the Boards of the Hospital Association of Southern California and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI). He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Vanir Construction Management Inc. and GEHA a health plan for federal employees and retirees.
He is a founding member and first chairman of the National Forum for Latino Healthcare Executives; past-chair of the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, a nonprofit organization founded by the American Hospital Association and the American College of Healthcare Executives that works closely with healthcare organizations and educators to expand leadership opportunities for ethnic minorities in health services management.
Mr. Cordova was selected one of America’s “Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business magazine in 2005; he was named one of “The Most Powerful People in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare magazine in 2006; and he was selected one of the “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare magazine in 2008, 2010 and 2014. Mr. Cordova was also selected “CEO of the Year” by the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2011.
He also received the Alumnus of the Year Award from California State University Los Angeles in 2010, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management in 2006.
Mr. Cordova received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University at Los Angeles in 1972, and an MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University in 1984. He completed a PEW Fellowship at the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems in 1987.
Mr. Cordova is a native of Southern California, born and raised in Montebello. He’s married with three married daughters and five grandchildren.