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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayJaewon Ryu, M.D., J.D., chief executive officer of nonprofit Risant Health, is stepping down from the role, following a personal decision to focus on his family. Dale Maxwell, former president and CEO of Presbyterian Healthcare Services, New Mexico's largest nonprofit integrated health system, will serve as interim CEO while the Risant Health board conducts a national search.
A Kaiser Permanente press release stressed that the leadership change does not signal a change in strategy. (Watch for Healthcare Innovation’s upcoming interview with Deepak Sadagopan, business lead for the value-based platform at Risant Health.)
Washington, D.C.-based Risant Health was created by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals to bring together like-minded organizations, increase access to value-based care and coverage, and raise the bar for approaches that bring the best health outcomes. Risant Health's goal is to expand and accelerate the adoption of value-based care in multi-payer, multi-provider, community-based health system environments.
In 2024 both North Carolina-based Cone Health and Pennsylvania-based Geisinger joined Risant Health.
Ryu, Geisinger’s former CEO, helped establish the organization's operating model, recruit its leadership team, and build the capabilities needed to support the national platform.
He spoke at the 2025 Population Health Colloquium in Philadelphia about the four key criteria that the organization is considering as it looks to add more health systems beyond Geisinger and Cone Health:
• Mission alignment. He said this probably means they need to be a nonprofit.
• Tied to community. “We also think they have to be deeply tied to the community,” he said. “They have to have a reputation for being the go-to place for their communities around quality, experience, and affordability.”
• Value-based care focus. “They have to be walking the talk on value-based care. I think this is really important. They either have to have their own health plan or a sizable ACO, a lot of downstream risk environments or contracts with other payers,” Ryu said.
• Strong financials. They need to have a solid set of stand-alone financials, Ryu said, in order to be fiscally sustainable. “Obviously the entire industry has come out of a five-year period that's been topsy turvy and disruptive and challenging, but even within that, we know that some have been faster to recover than others, and there's a line of sight to get there,” he added.
In a statement Greg Adams, chair and CEO of Kaiser Permanente and chair of the board of Risant Health, praised Ryu’s efforts. "Jaewon has been instrumental in turning the vision for Risant Health into reality. He built an exceptional leadership team, established the organization's operating model, and positioned Risant Health to help more communities benefit from value-based care. The progress we've already seen — from deploying the platform across participating health systems to early improvements in clinical and operational performance — reflects both his leadership and the strength of this model. We are deeply grateful for his partnership and leadership and wish Jaewon and his family all the best in this next chapter."
"Kaiser Permanente had the courage to pursue a bold vision for expanding value-based care, and it has been the privilege of my career to help bring that vision to life," said Ryu in a statement. "Together, we have built a strong foundation, welcomed outstanding health systems into the Risant Health family, and demonstrated what's possible when organizations come together around a shared commitment to improving quality, affordability, and the patient experience. I remain deeply committed to this mission and have every confidence that Risant Health's greatest impact is still ahead."
Maxwell brings more than 24 years of executive leadership experience at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, New Mexico's largest nonprofit integrated health system, where he served as president and CEO from 2016 until his retirement in 2024.
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