Advisory Board

Senior Vice President Strategy and Business Development

Kerry joined the leadership team at Virginia Mason in July, 2016 to focus on strategy and growth. Her team focuses on strategic planning, organizational relationships and outreach. Prior to this she spent twenty eight years as a management consultant and five years in hospital operations. As a consultant she worked with academic medical centers, health systems, community hospitals, and medical schools across the US positioning them for the next decade through strategic plans and all types of affiliations. Virginia Mason was her favorite client.

Kerry studied Biology and Biochemistry as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, earned a master’s degree in Labor Relations from Loyola University and master’s degree in Bioethics and Health Policy from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine.

DNP, RN, FAAN

Charleen Tachibana is senior vice president for quality/safety and the Chief Nursing Officer of the Virginia Mason Health System.  She is accountable for nursing, quality, safety, clinical informatics, and patient experience. She has taught and consulted internationally on the application of the principles and methods of Lean to healthcare and to nursing. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow and was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2013.  Charleen holds a BSN from Pacific Lutheran University, an MN from the University of Washington and a DNP from Vanderbilt University.

Executive Director

Sarah Patterson has been a member of the leadership team at Virginia Mason Medical Center for over 30 years, most recently serving as the executive vice president and chief operating officer.  Sarah is currently Executive Director of the Virginia Mason Institute, as well as leading the integration of the Yakima Virginia Mason Memorial group.  She helped Virginia Mason set up its own lean production system to eliminate waste, improve quality and patient safety and has been on 7 study missions to Japan.  She has held responsibility for all operations of the clinic and hospital along with the Kaizen Promotion Office, Human Resources, Quality and Compliance, Facilities and Pharmaceutical Services.

Originally from Boston, Sarah Patterson earned her B.A. from St. Lawrence University in 1972 and her MHA from University of Washington in 1984. She was elected board chair of the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) in 2010/2011. WSHA represents all Washington hospitals and health-related organizations. She also has served on the Board of Directors of the Horizon House Retirement Community.

Health Resource Services

Ken Freeman is the founder and CEO of Health Resource Services, an LLC wholly owned by Virginia Mason Medical Center. He is also a Vice-President at Virginia Mason, an integrated delivery network which includes a multispecialty group of more than 500 employed physicians, a 336-bed acute care hospital, a network of regional clinics and the world-class Benaroya Research Institute.

Prior to moving into healthcare, Ken served in the Air Force where he provided supply chain logistical leadership.  Ken continued his career in supply chain moving to Virginia Mason where he managed both the pharmacy and medical supply chains.  His business development background and entrepreneurship ended up providing the catalyst and foundation for launching Health Resource Services and building a respected group purchasing partner which currently drives over $1.2 billion in contract sales.

Health Resource Services is Intalere’s largest marketing affiliate, providing group purchasing and consulting services to over 19,000 healthcare providers across the continental United States as well as Alaska and Hawaii.  Since 1980, HRS has grown from a three employee company to 50 employees who represent both HRS and Intalere. They provide our members with strong supply contracts and a reduction in non-labor spend, improving the quality of care while increasing revenue.