Christopher Kane, MD, Appointed CEO of UC San Diego Health Physicians

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Christopher Kane, MD, has been appointed dean of clinical affairs for UC San Diego School of Medicine and CEO of UC San Diego Health Physicians, effective July 15. In these dual roles, Kane will collaborate with UC San Diego leadership to ensure that UC San Diego Health Physicians achieve the highest standards of service, access, quality, safety, and patient satisfaction and are integrated to support the unique and growing needs of an expanding academic health system and its growing regional network of providers.

“Dr. Kane will lead efforts to expand patient access to primary care in local communities, as well as access to our highly specialized faculty for more complicated and complex patient needs. Dr. Kane will collaborate with a wide range of teams to integrate strategies to improve patient and physician experience through improved clinical operations,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health.

Christopher Kane, MD, CEO of UC San Diego Health Physicians. Photo credit: UC San Diego Health

Kane oversees all aspects of UC San Diego Health’s physician practices, including all ambulatory clinical operations, clinic staff, care navigation, scheduling, call centers, ambulatory quality, and patient experience. UC San Diego Health Physicians is comprised of over 800 physicians with practices throughout the region.

“My goal is to increase faculty engagement and alignment as the health system enhances and expands its ambulatory and clinical care offerings. The universal goal is to offer our patients and the public quick, convenient and reliable access to safe, high-quality academic medicine,” said Kane, who also serves as the chair of the Department of Urology.

“From his arrival in 2007, Dr. Kane has served as an inclusive leader focused on measurable results across our tripartite mission. Throughout his academic career, he has been recognized for his communication skills, strategic business acumen and fiscal responsibility, all of which has enabled him to build successful, sustainable, nationally recognized programs,” said David Brenner, MD, vice chancellor of health sciences at UC San Diego.

Kane is the founding chair of the UC San Diego School of Medicine Department of Urology. As chief, Kane executed an integrated clinical, research and teaching strategy to achieve department status. Kane has also served as senior associate dean of clinical affairs for health sciences, board chair of the Clinical Practice Organization and as senior deputy director of cancer surgery and physician-in-chief at Moores Cancer Center. He was interim chair of the Department of Surgery from 2013 to 2015. A nationwide search for the role of urology chair will be opened this summer.

Kane has had progressive leadership responsibilities throughout his career across multiple institutions, from Naval Medical Center San Diego to UCSF to UC San Diego. He has authored more than 325 peer-reviewed research articles with a focus on prostate cancer risk factors and outcomes, prostate cancer surgery and minimally invasive surgeries for prostate and kidney cancers. He serves on the editorial boards of several major urology journals and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Prostate Cancer Management Guidelines Committee. He is a member of the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons and previously co-chaired the National Cancer Institute’s Renal Cell Carcinoma Advisory Task Force.

Kane completed his residency at the Naval Medical Center in Oakland. He received his medical degree from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. A retired Navy captain and a decorated veteran of Desert Storm, he is board-certified in urology.