Kaiser Permanente Names Legal Chief for Health Plan, Hospitals

Kaiser Permanente has named Vanessa Benavides as senior vice president and chief legal officer for its foundation health plan and hospitals effective Dec. 26.

Benavides, who practiced at Lock Lorde prior to stints at Tenet Healthcare and Caremark Rx, has been with Kaiser Permanente since 2015. She is replacing Mark Zemelman who is retiring as general counsel and senior vice president after 30 years. He’ll stay on in an advisory position through mid-2022.

In her new role, she will manage legal, compliance and regulatory affairs for Kaiser, reporting to chief executive officer Greg Adams. She will continue as a member of the organization’s national executive team.

When she joined Kaiser Permanente in 2015, Benavides was chief compliance and privacy officer.

Prior to joining Kaiser, she was chief compliance officer for Tenet and also was senior regulatory counsel during her decade-long employment there.

Before Tenet, she was legal counsel for Caremark Rx, a pharmacy benefit management company.