Honoree: Kimberly Chavalas Cripe

President & CEO
Children’s Hospital of Orange County

As the pandemic, winter viral surges and the youth mental health crisis have continued to present challenges for pediatric healthcare providers, CHOC president and CEO Kimberly Chavalas Cripe has remained focused on protecting the health and well-being of children and families – all while taking steps to advance CHOC’s mission and mark accomplishments that will positively impact children’s health for decades into the future. Over the last 12 months under Cripe’s direction, CHOC has seen the addition of prominent new leadership, as well as several new facilities and programs that will continue to enhance the community for decades to come. Last year, the pediatric healthcare system broke ground on a nine-story, 330,000-square-foot building that will house a variety of outpatient services in a soothing and family-centered environment. The Southwest Tower is part of a visionary plan to help CHOC transform the care and experience it provides across its entire enterprise. This year will usher in newly constructed and renovated spaces, including an urgent care center set to open in the coming weeks. Cripe’s passion for caring for the whole child has spurred a number of community health and wellness initiatives. For example, CHOC’s partnership with the Orange County Department of Education and school districts throughout the county has led to the opening of 35 (and counting) Well Spaces, facilities on school campuses where students can find respite and relaxation from the daily, often increasing pressures of modern adolescence only intensified by the pandemic.

Guided by the truth that mental health is just as important as physical health, Cripe has advocated for mental health parity, especially for underserved children and families. Under her leadership, CHOC continues to invest in a continuum of mental health care across inpatient, outpatient, intensive and emergency settings. During the last fiscal year (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023), CHOC’s Cherese Mari Laulhere Mental Health Inpatient Center, the only inpatient facility in Orange County to treat patients younger than 10, provided psychiatric care for more than 700 children ages 3 to 17. In an ongoing effort to integrate behavioral and physical health care, CHOC mental health clinicians treated more than 4,000 patients in primary care settings in 2023.