Richard D. Cordova, president and CEO
Los
Angeles, Calif—Richard
D. Cordova, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles (CHLA),
and California State University, Los Angeles’ (CSULA) 2010 Alumnus of
the Year, will address CSULA’s Class of 2012 during its two-day, 65th
annual Commencement.
Cordova will be the keynote speaker, Friday, June 15, at 5 p.m. during
the first of two graduation ceremonies. Eduardo M. Ochoa, U.S. assistant
secretary for postsecondary education and a former CSULA professor, will
speak Saturday, June 16, at 8 a.m. More than 5,000 bachelor’s, master’s
and doctorate students will graduate during the ceremonies.
“It’s an
honor to be giving the commencement speech for my alma mater,” said
Cordova. “I grew up in this neighborhood and I’m coming home to the
college that I graduated from. I look forward to sharing my life, and
more than 35 years of work experiences in the health field, with the
graduating class of 2012.”
CHLA is
the fifth
ranked children’s hospital in the country, according to the latest
U.S. News & World Report “Best Children's Hospital” survey.
Cordova began his current position at the hospital in 2006. He also
serves as a member of its Board of Trustees.
Prior to his arrival at CHLA, Cordova worked with Kaiser Foundation
Health Plan and Hospitals, a nonprofit health care system that included
30 hospitals in eight states. He served as president of the Southern
California Region of the Kaiser Permanente Health Plan and Hospitals
with responsibilities for 11 hospitals, and led the organization’s
regional efforts in marketing, strategic planning, finance, quality and
patient safety.
Before his appointment as president at Kaiser, he served the hospital as
chief operations officer for Southern California, after being senior
vice president and service area manager, with responsibilities for four
hospitals in the Northern California East Bay Service Area.
Cordova began his career in healthcare after graduating from CSULA with
a degree in business administration in 1972. A year later, he began
working for the Department of Health Services for the County of Los
Angeles. Through 1991, he held various roles as a leader for Los Angeles
County, serving as administrator of General Hospital of Los Angeles
County (LAC/USC Medical Center) and associate hospital administrator of
operations at Olive View Medical Center.
Cordova also worked with the Department of Public Health for the County
of San Francisco in 1991. Through 1998, he served as executive
administrator of the Community Health Network with responsibilities for
San Francisco General Hospital, Laguna Honda Hospital and 12 community
health centers.
During that time, he served as CEO of San Francisco General Hospital, an
acute care hospital specializing in trauma and AIDS. Cordova was a
founding member of the San Francisco Public Health Authority, which
created the Medi-Cal-managed care organization for the County of San
Francisco.
Cordova has also served on many councils, boards and has chaired a
variety of healthcare-related organizations. He currently is a Fellow of
the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), and recently was
elected to the Board of Governors. He serves as board chair of the
California Children’s Hospitals Association, and is a board member of
the California Hospital Association, ThinkCure, the official charity of
the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cordova is also a founding member of the National Forum for Latino
Healthcare Executives and past-chair of the Institute for Diversity in
Health Management, a non-profit organization that works closely with
healthcare organizations and educators to expand leadership
opportunities for ethnic minorities in health services management.
Cordova has earned many accolades as a hospital leader. Most recently
he was selected “CEO of the Year” by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Modern Healthcare magazine twice named him one of the “Top 25
Minority Executives in Healthcare” and named him one of “The Most
Powerful People in Healthcare.” He was also named one of America’s “Top
100 Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business magazine.
Cordova received his master’s degree from the Graziadio School of
Business and Management at Pepperdine University in 1984.
# # #
of Children’s Hospital in Los
Angeles,
to address Cal State L.A.’s Class of 2012
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 220,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six Colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to the Honors College for high-achieving students. Programs that provide exciting enrichment opportunities to students and community include an NEH-supported humanities center; a NASA-funded center for space research; and a growing forensic science program, housed in the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center. www.calstatela.edu
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