Bechara Choucair (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: بشارة شقير) is a

Lebanese-American Lebanese Americans ( ar, أمريكيون لبنانيون) are Americans of Lebanese descent. This includes both those who are native to the United States of America, as well as immigrants from Lebanon. Lebanese Americans comprise 0.79% of the ...

physician and public health advisor who is the chief community health officer of

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser P ...

. He was the senior vice president of safety net and community health at Trinity Health and served as the commissioner of the

Chicago Department of Public Health The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is a government department of the City of Chicago. The purpose of the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) is too create a thriving and healthy community within the city of Chicago, Illinois by ...

from 2009 to 2014.

Early life and education

Choucair was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

from the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

. He then earned a Master of Science degree in healthcare management from the

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas. It is one of the largest public universities in the Dallas area and the northernmost institution of the University of Texas system. It wa ...

Career

Chicago Department of Public Health

Choucair was appointed as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health on November 25, 2009, by

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

, and reappointed by

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

upon his election. He stepped down from the post in December 2014. Together with Mayor Emanuel, Choucair launched Healthy Chicago in August 2011, the City's first comprehensive public health agenda. in different Chicago neighborhoods. Choucair previously held an appointment at

Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is the medical school of Northwestern University and is located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1859, Feinberg offers a full-time Doctor of Medicine degree p ...

as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

Kaiser

Choucair was chief community health officer for

. In April 2018, Choucair led the mission-based nonprofit organization's commitment of $2 million to researching gun injury prevention. As part of this public health initiative, Choucair serves as a co-lead on the Kaiser Permanente Taskforce on Firearm Injury Prevention. In May 2018, Choucair announced Kaiser Permanente's $200 million impact investing commitment to address affordable housing and prevent displacement, a precursor to homelessness.

Biden administration

On December 30, 2020, it was announced that Choucair would serve as White House Vaccinations Coordinator in the incoming

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

. Choucair stepped down from his role on November 22, 2021, and resumed his role at Kaiser Permanente on December 27, 2021.

Awards

* 2010, Community Leadership Award
Midwest Asian Health Association
* 2011, Healthcare Community Leadership Award
The Chicago Health Executives Forum
* 2012, Friend for Life Award, Howard Brown Health Center * 2012, Chicago's "40 under 40," Crain's Chicago Business * 2014, Housing Champion Award
Metropolitan Tenants Organization
*2019, named sixty-eighth among the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare by ''

Modern Healthcare ''Modern Healthcare'' is a twice monthly business publication targeting executives in the healthcare industry. It is an independent American publisher of national and regional healthcare news. The publication is also known for providing statistic ...

''.

Select publications

*
Survey of a Bekaa Community Health Needs, LMJ 47:1:13-17, 1999, Jamal N, Choucair B, Khalil H, Hamadeh G.
*

** [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21168578 Homelessness and Healthcare: Considerations for Evaluation, Management, and Support within the Primary Care Domain, Disease-a-Month, 2010 Dec 56(12):719-733. Koon A, Kantayya V, Choucair B.] *
Program to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening in Low-Income, Racially Diverse Population: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Annals of Family Medicine, 2012 Sept/October 10 (5): 412-417. Jean-Jacques M., Kaleba E., Gatta J., Gracia G., Ryan E., Choucair, B.
** Chicago Health Atlas: Engaging in Public Health Surveillance Beyond the Confines of the Local Health Department, NACCHO Exchange, winter 2013 12(1). Jones R, Choucair B., O’Neil D., Kho A. Regional Extension Center. * Select Abstracts ** An Innovative Governmental Approach to Childhood Obesity Prevention in Chicago: The Inter-Departmental Task Force on Childhood Obesity, 2010. American Public Health Association 138th Annual Meeting and Expo. Choucair B, Harrington J, Herd J, Becker A, Bozlak C. ** Poverty Medicine Collaborative: Global Health Experience for Medical Students. 2008. American Academy of Family Physicians Global Health Conference. Choucair B, Koon A.

References

External links

Chicago Department of Public Health

Crain's 40 under 40: 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choucair, Bechara 1973 births American civil servants American public health doctors American University of Beirut alumni Baylor College of Medicine alumni Living people People from Beirut University of Texas at Dallas alumni 21st-century American physicians