PeaceHealth adds two dynamic leaders to its system board of directors

PeaceHealth has named Carol Aaron and Ruth Williams-Brinkley to its system board of directors.

With more than 30 years of healthcare experience, Aaron’s deeply held commitment to community health as well as her passion for organizational talent development makes her a valuable addition to the PeaceHealth system board.

Aaron returns to PeaceHealth as a member of the Board of Directors. She retired from her role as PeaceHealth’s executive vice president and chief administrative officer at the end of 2019 after nine years of service. As the chief administrative officer, she was responsible for Human Resources, Mission Services, Governance, Marketing and Communications, and Business Integration. She successfully implemented mission, business and talent strategies to accelerate PeaceHealth moving to an integrated health system serving communities in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. 

With over 35 years of healthcare experience, Aaron has worked as a system healthcare executive leader, at St. Joseph Health, Sutter Health and Alexian Brothers in California. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Labor Studies from San Francisco State University and a master’s degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco. She also served as a board member for the Ministry Leadership Center, a multi-system Board dedicated to the development and formation of Catholic executives. Aaron’s deeply held commitment to people-centric community health and wellness, as well as her passion for organizational and talent strategies will be instrumental to the PeaceHealth Board as we ready our organization for the next 130 years.

In addition to serving as a System Board member, Ruth Williams-Brinkley is president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States, Inc. In this role, Williams-Brinkley oversees all of Kaiser Permanente’s care delivery and health plan operations in Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland, Baltimore and Northern Virginia. Ruth joined Kaiser Permanente in 2017, serving as president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals of the Northwest. She oversaw all of Kaiser Permanente’s care delivery and health plan operations in Oregon and markets in Vancouver and Longview/Kelso, Washington.

Prior to that she served as CEO of KentuckyOne Health; president and CEO of Carondelet Health Network in Tucson, Arizona; and as president and CEO of Memorial Healthcare System in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Williams-Brinkley holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from De Paul University and an honorary doctoral degree from Spaulding University in Louisville, Kentucky.

Aaron and Williams-Brinkley will support PeaceHealth’s ongoing commitment to the highest level of quality care in our communities.

About PeaceHealth: PeaceHealth, based in Vancouver, Wash., is a not-for-profit Catholic health system offering care to communities in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. PeaceHealth has approximately 16,000 caregivers, a group practice with more than 1,200 providers and 10 medical centers serving both urban and rural communities throughout the Northwest. In 1890, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace founded what has become PeaceHealth. The Sisters shared expertise and transferred wisdom from one medical center to another, always finding the best way to serve the unmet need for healthcare in their communities. Today, PeaceHealth is the legacy of the founding Sisters and continues with a spirit of respect, stewardship, collaboration and social justice in fulfilling its Mission.