In her office at Sonoma Valley Hospital, President and Chief Executive Officer Kelley Kaiser spoke with Anna Pier about the hospital, its great strengths and its challenges, and her experience here as her first year moves to a close.
When and why did you come to Sonoma Valley Hospital? I started my work as CEO at the beginning of November 2025. I came from Corvallis, Oregon, where I had spent 30 years working in a hospital system. Over those years, my husband and I used to drive down to Sonoma often. We would come two or three times a year to see vintage car races at Sears Point. I even once took a defensive driving course at the raceway.
On those trips, I would visit Sonoma Valley Hospital, wander around. I was looking for a community that I could engage with, be a part of. I was really impressed by the enormous donor wall. It showed me that this community recognizes the importance of their hospital. So of course, I applied when I saw they were looking for a CEO. It was meant to be.
And now that you’ve been here almost ten months, what do you know about Sonoma Valley Hospital? The culture of the hospital is our secret sauce. The people who provide the care, the people who work here, all of them, doing their different jobs, are very much committed to the care of the patients.
I have been enjoying understanding and learning about a new organization. It has been a wonderful transition, personally and professionally. The Leadership Team was eager to collaborate.
Please talk more about that. We have a highly committed Leadership Team. Our Chief Medical officer, Dr Patrick Okolo, who has been here for just under a year, is an excellent CMO as well as an internationally known gastroenterologist. Our Chief Financial Officer, Ben Armfield, served as interim CEO, and he was great at helping me to get up to speed. Our Chief Nursing Officer, Michelle Corder, started a month ago in the spot which the former CNO, Jessica Winkler held; she had postponed her retirement for six months to help me begin my work here. She left us in a great situation.
In addition to the above, Dawn Kuwahara, who is our Chief Ancillary Officer, has served the hospital for 29 years, plays a key role leading our Ancillary services such as Imaging and Lab. Lynn McKissock, the Chief Human Resources Officer, is critical in helping support and enhance the Connected Culture we have built here. Kimberly Drummond, our Chief of Support Services, provides key leadership from a facilities and support services function. We meet together weekly to work on ‘where we are, and where we are going.’
Other new work? The Hospital Board asked me to update the Strategic Plan. There were three pillars, Quality and Access, Community Engagement, and Sustainability. I added a fourth, Connected Culture, which includes excellence awards, cascading communication, and leadership rounding.
Can you explain cascading communication and leadership rounding? My goal with this was to be sure we had a process that has an internal focus. I believe if you have a strong, engaged, happy team, you provide the best care to the community and patients. Cascading communication ensures that we are distributing consistent information across the organization. Helping employees understand strategic priorities, changes and decisions. Leadership rounding is a proactive practice, by which leaders regularly visit employees in their work areas to engage in conversation, gather feedback and recognize contributions.
Anything else new? We have renewed our partnership with Sonoma County. Our Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo has been bringing together stakeholders around physical and mental health. We are working with Sonoma Valley Community Health Center CEO Sara Brewer, trying to create bridges between the two organizations to better serve our shared community.
Nolan Sullivan, the Health Services Director at Sonoma County Department of Health Services led a call this week, with all the health care providers in the County, focusing on enrollment in MediCal. The effect of the cuts in H.R.1 are an unknown, but we know our resources will be less. We are working together to collaborate on ways to ensure we are serving our communities.
Please talk more about the strengths. Our ED (Emergency Department). They are our front door. We have a wonderful team of ER docs, headed up by Dr Seric Cusick. And our Acute Stroke Ready Certified team, working with UCSF. Our strong affiliation with UCSF is a great strength, allowing our patients access to their specialists. And our strong partnership with Sonoma Valley Fire District for Emergency Medical Service.
Awards or recognition? We were just recognized nationally by the American Heart Association for our commitment to excellence in cardiovascular care. And we learned in June that the Lown Institute, an independent evaluator, named us one of the most socially responsible hospitals in the nation. Only 160 out of more than 3,600 U.S. hospitals achieved this Honor Roll status for health equity, value, and outcomes.
Challenges? How to be stable, sustainable, with all four pillars of our Strategic Plan. And how to attract physicians, clinicians, to come to Sonoma and work here with us.
And it is a challenging time to be an independent small hospital. 70 to 75 percent of our total revenue is from Medicare (60 percent); and MediCal (17 percent). Serving that population is part of our mission, and we have to navigate the upcoming cuts.
Satisfactions? As I said, the culture, the team – literally everybody, the Board, the physicians, the nurses, the housekeepers, and admin staff – their commitment to working together to provide the best patient outcomes. Every morning I choose to walk in the front door, instead of a side door, to my office, to be part of it all.
Have you been enjoying Sonoma? Very much. My husband and I bought a house at the end of November, and moved in mid-December. We got to spend our first Christmas here. We enjoy going up the Overlook Trail. We take lots of walks, do lots of hiking around the Valley. And I am a runner. On July 25 I took part in the Rosé 5K run. Running is my mental health therapy. I started running after my two daughters were born. They are both grown. One is a med-surg nurse in Albany, Oregon, and the other is in medical school in Virginia.
Last thoughts? I am grateful for the opportunity to lead Sonoma Valley Hospital and work with such a dedicated group that truly cares about the community they serve.
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