Patrick Chen

Patrick Chen, MASc, MPH

Vice President, Population Health Strategy and Innovation

Patrick currently serves as the Vice President of Population Health Strategy and Innovation at MLK  Community Healthcare, where he oversees research in health disparities, strategic initiatives to model a more equitable future, and health system transformation. He also serves as the founding director for the MLKCH Center for Advancing Health Equity. Patrick is a geospatial scientist and health economist who has championed population health research to guide transformations of healthcare infrastructure for communities in need. He specializes in leading multidisciplinary research teams and leveraging geospatial data science for population health intelligence and sustainable, equitable healthcare delivery models. He is deeply committed to driving positive impact in underserved communities for medical outcomes and social determinants, with thoughtful execution of data-driven population health programs and creative solutions.

Prior to his current role, Patrick served as the Senior Director of Business Intelligence and Accountable Care at Scripps Health and as an Associate Director of Healthcare Economics at Optum/UnitedHealth Group. In these roles, Patrick led the research and development of formal spatiotemporal and economic analyses of communities and patient populations to restructure population health strategies to improve access to care and lift community health outcomes. He is also a Fellow of the Lown Institute and actively advises academic and public health institutions such as UCLA and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. His passion and expertise in protecting vulnerable populations and enhancing global health resilience has led to collaborations with federal entities, and he has been invited to present findings by the National Security Council at the White House, Department of State, and Department of Defense. Patrick and his team were awarded the Gareth M. Green award by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in recognition of their significant contributions to protecting vulnerable populations and dedication to advancing the public health mission.

Patrick received his Master of Public Health from Harvard University, a Master of Applied Science in Spatial Analytics from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Health Policy from the University of California, Irvine.