Dr. Kavitha Bhatia, MD

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Get to know Pediatrician Dr. Kavitha Bhatia, who serves patients in California.

A trusted pediatrician, Dr. Bhatia is the Chair and President of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public charity dedicated to improving healthcare through its hospitals and educational and charitable initiatives.

Fifteen of Prime Healthcare’s 46 hospitals are members of the Prime Healthcare Foundation which provide quality healthcare, philanthropy and service to communities. The Prime Healthcare Foundation has provided more than $2 billion in charity care and sponsored local and global initiatives to forward its mission of improving the lives of others through healthcare and education. The Prime Healthcare Foundation, through a $60 million donation, established the California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), a private, non-profit medical school in Southern California in 2018 with a mission to advance medicine, improve the health of communities, and inspire service in underserved areas.

In addition to her role as the Chair and President of the Prime Healthcare Foundation, Dr. Bhatia also serves as the first Chief Medical Officer of Strategy for Prime Healthcare. She develops and implements strategic initiatives that advance the mission and long-term success of Prime Healthcare. She works with corporate and hospital leaders to align goals, prioritize system-wide value creation, and implement strategic initiatives to ensure Prime’s continued operational, financial, and clinical success.

A leader in health care, she is an active member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Medical Women’s Association, the American Medical Association, the Los Angeles County Medical Association, the UCLA Medical Alumni Association, the Los Angeles Pediatric Society, and the California Hospital Association.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Bhatia graduated as a Phi Beta Kappa scholar with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology and Neuroscience from UC San Diego in 1997. She earned her medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where she graduated with Honors and Letters of Distinction in Doctoring. She also holds a Certificate in Healthcare Strategy from Harvard Business School and has earned a Master of Medical Management degree from the USC Marshall School of Business. She has been a scholar at world-renowned institutions such as Mass General, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the All India Institute of Medicine.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the doctor is board-certified in pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). The mission of the ABP is to advance child health by certifying pediatricians who meet standards of excellence and are committed to continuous learning and improvement.

Among her philanthropic endeavors, Dr. Bhatia serves as the Board Chair at Prime Healthcare Foundation, a Board Member at the California Hospital Association, on the Board of Trustees at Curtis School, a Grand Benefactor at World Children’s Initiative, the Founding Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees at the California University of Science and Medicine, a Governing Board Member of the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH), and a member of the FAH’s national Quality and Emergency Preparedness committees. She has also led the Prime Healthcare system through the COVID-19 Pandemic as Co-Chair of both the National COVID Committee & COVID 24/7 Command Center.

Committed to improving the health and lives of others, Dr. Bhatia is a dedicated philanthropist. Her experiences have been broad, caring for the sick and dying in the slums of Calcutta to teaching inner city youth. For her work with the Missionaries of Charity, she was awarded a Miraculous Medallion with Mother Teresa. She has served in advisory roles for national and global causes such as the World Children’s Initiative and Project Heart Uganda. She is also the Executive Director of the Dr. Prem Reddy Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to improving healthcare and providing educational opportunities which include annual scholarship programs for underserved students and educational grants.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends people be under pediatric care up to the age of 21. Pediatricians provide medical care to people ranging in age from newborns to young adults. They are trained to examine, diagnose, and treat children with a wide variety of injuries and illnesses through all of their developmental stages, as they grow and mature.

An authority in her field, Dr. Bhatia has been recognized among the nation’s physician leaders, earning “100 CMOs to Know” in Becker’s Hospital Review in 2020 and “Top Pediatrician” by Top Women in Medicine. She was selected for the Los Angeles Business Journal’s prestigious “Top Women Leaders in Healthcare” in 2020 and “Top Doctor” award in 2021.

Happily married, she and her husband, Sunny, are the proud parents of Shay, Lia, and Layla.

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