Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP
Dr. Kyu ("Q") Rhee is a purpose-driven physician executive, scientist, teacher, and entrepreneur who has developed and led transdisciplinary teams across the nonprofit, public, and private sectors to make the health system better, especially for underserved communities.
As president and CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Dr. Rhee supports delivery of high-quality, affordable, patient-governed primary care, promoting health equity for communities across our nation. With over 300,000 employees serving 30 million people in over 15,000 locations, federally qualified health centers provide values-based care to patients in every US state and territory, regardless of their ability to pay.
Prior to joining NACHC, Dr. Rhee was senior vice president & Aetna chief medical officer at CVS Health, where his team delivered evidence-based clinical and population health solutions to improve health for up to 65 million people. Before CVS Health, Dr. Rhee was chief health officer of IBM, leading IBM’s efforts to transform health through the use of data, analytics, artificial intelligence, services, and research for hospitals, health plans, providers, employers, governments, and life science companies across the world.
Before his tenure at IBM, Dr. Rhee was chief public health officer at the Health Resources and Services Administration, the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable. Dr. Rhee also served as director of the Office of Innovation and Program Coordination at the National Institutes of Health.
Prior to his public service, Dr. Rhee worked as a primary care physician for the National Health Service Corps and chief medical officer in community health settings in Washington, DC, and Baltimore. During that time, he taught at the George Washington University School of Public Health, where he received a Best Teacher award for his classes in community health leadership and health disparities. He remains committed to mentoring the next generation of health leaders and has active appointments and teaching responsibilities at Stanford School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Boston University Questrom School of Business.
Dr. Rhee completed his medical residency training in both internal medicine and pediatrics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He earned his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. Dr. Rhee also holds a master's degree in health care policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He acquired his bachelor of science degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University.
Connect with Dr. Rhee on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kyurheemd.