SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Business Times has named Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center CEO Hamila Kownacki to its 2023 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business list. Kownacki and fellow honorees were selected for showing a strong record of leadership and performance in their industry, as well as demonstrating meaningful community involvement. This is Kownacki’s second time being included on the publication’s annual list.
Hamila Kownacki, R.N., MSHA, is the CEO of Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco.
“It is an honor and privilege to serve our community every day at Sutter CPMC across San Francisco by supporting our stellar team of care providers,” says Kownacki.
In 2023, Kownacki was announced as CEO of Sutter’s CPMC, where she has served more than two decades, including eight years as chief operating officer. Under her direction, CPMC opened two state-of-the-art acute care facilities: Mission Bernal campus and Van Ness campus. The medical center has also earned numerous national awards for its exceptional quality and safety records.
Kownacki is a champion of accessible, high-quality healthcare. As head of Sutter’s CPMC’s four campuses, she has a bird’s eye view of the city’s dynamic healthcare landscape, including its strengths, needs and challenges. With this unique perspective, she’s moved nimbly while at CPMC to help advise on the hospital’s strategic community investments, many of which support critical safety-net services for some of San Francisco’s most vulnerable populations, including older adults and individuals who are uninsured or underinsured. Some of Sutter’s most recent investments under Kownacki’s leadership include support for Curry Senior Center, HealthRIGHT 360 and the San Francisco Free Clinic, among others.
Additionally, Kownacki has continued to forge strong ties with the Tenderloin Community Benefit District, home to Sutter CPMC’s largest and newest Van Ness campus. This relationship has led to meaningful improvement projects over the years such as Sutter CPMC’s helping to fund 97 new streetlights in the Tenderloin.
Kownacki has a heart for building relationships and supporting diverse communities. She serves on multiple boards for Sutter Health ventures including the Presidio Surgery Center (co-chair), the San Francisco Endoscopy Center (chair), and California Pacific Advanced Imaging (chair). As a longtime resident of the city, Kownacki’s care for the local community extends to leadership roles beyond the hospital. She is a board member for San Francisco’s Meals on Wheels. Most recently, she was board chair of Donor Network West, a nonprofit organ procurement organization in Northern California and Nevada. She also served on the board of the Jewish Vocational Services in San Francisco, an organization whose mission is to assist with improving the lives of refugees and immigrants in the Bay Area.
Hamila Kownacki with CPMC staff at the 2023 San Francisco Business Times’ Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business awards banquet.
Beyond serving as a trusted local voice for hospitalized care, as well as a connection point for city leaders and organizations, Kownacki, in her role overseeing CPMC, helms one of San Francisco’s largest employers and economic drivers. The medical center employs roughly 4,400 full-time employees and support staff. As the region’s tertiary referral center, Sutter’s CPMC provides high-quality routine and specialty care for thousands of patients each year. San Francisco, as recognized destination for technology and innovation, is also one of the country’s leading cities for cutting-edge care healthcare. Kownacki, as CEO of CPMC, continues to elevate the work and programs of the hospital, bolstering the city’s reputation as a prominent healthcare hub.
Sutter’s CPMC, as a not-for-profit medical center and part of the Sutter Health Network, has been a cornerstone of the San Francisco community for more than a century. It’s four campuses (Davies, Mission Bernal, Pacific Heights and Van Ness) are deeply embedded into the social fabric of some the city’s most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Kownacki, as the hospital’s top leader, plays an important role in helping the city’s communities live healthier, more productive lives.
About Sutter Health
Sutter Health’s integrated, not-for-profit system of associated clinicians, employees and volunteers support more than 3 million patients in diverse communities across two dozen counties. Headquartered in Northern California, Sutter provides access to high quality, affordable care through its hospitals, medical foundations, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent and walk-in care centers, telehealth, home health and hospice services.
