December 12, 2024
AUSTIN–Central Health, Travis County’s hospital district, has named Kim Heinonen its first chief transformation officer.
Heinonen, who joined Central Health’s executive team in mid-November, comes to the district after 20 years as an executive consultant at Simpler Consulting, an IBM company. In that role, he led large-scale business transformations across a broad range of industries and companies, including 10 years working with Kaiser Permanente, the largest healthcare provider in California.
Dr. Patrick Lee, president and CEO of Central Health, emphasized the significance of Heinonen joining the team, saying, “This role is a key step in our journey to improve the health outcomes of our community. By collaborating closely with our leaders and teams, Kim will help us align our talent, culture, and leadership and identify opportunities to make our work more effective, all while keeping people and patients at the forefront of our mission.”
Central Health, which was created by Travis County voters in 2004, is the only local government agency that collects taxes to pay for, plan, and provide health care for county residents with low income. Guided by its Healthcare Equity Plan, adopted in 2022, Central Health is on track to invest nearly $800 million by 2030 to build a high-quality comprehensive system that closes gaps and repairs holes in the county’s healthcare safety net.
Kim Heinonen
To fulfill this mission, Central Health has nearly doubled its employee headcount since 2021 and is on track to continue to grow rapidly for years to come. Just in the past 12 months, Central Health has launched more than a dozen specialty and supportive care lines of service and opened five different new clinical sites. It has also launched new programs that meet the needs of Austin’s unhoused population, provide care for county jail inmates and diversion services to keep people out of jail, and respond to Travis County’s overdose crisis.
Heinonen will help guide this rapid transformation. He describes his role as “driving the continuous improvement of current processes, products, and programs while spearheading innovative initiatives that strengthen Central Health’s foundational infrastructure and support its mission.”
A native of Finland, Heinonen graduated from Helsinki University of Technology with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.