Shelby Decosta

Shelby Decosta is senior vice president and chief business development officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Hospitals.

In this role, Decosta leads our enterprise business development function and is accountable for helping to grow our mission and improve health by extending Kaiser Permanente’s distinct brand of value-based care to more communities.

She focuses on mergers, acquisitions, market expansion, and service line diversification for Kaiser Permanente, Risant Health, and new businesses.

Decosta’s career path has followed her passion for growing and transforming nonprofit health care organizations to extend their reach and serve more people with personalized and compassionate care. Since 2004, she’s helped a wide range of organizations — from accountable care organizations to academic health systems — diversify and grow.

Decosta joined Kaiser Permanente from University of California, San Francisco Health where she served as president of the UCSF Health Affiliates Network and chief market development officer. She led the strategy, development, and management of multiple new businesses, expansions, partnerships, and affiliations for the health system. Decosta also grew the system’s physician network using affiliate, clinically integrated network, and employment models. Prior to UCSF Health, she held enterprise strategic leadership positions at Trinity Health and Dignity Health with accountability for mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships.

Decosta grew up in Hawaii where she witnessed family members and close friends leave the state for care due to limited access to specialty care. This led to a career facilitating growth and partnerships, and expanding access to health insurance, primary care, specialty care, and home health across the country to address health equity challenges.

She is a board member for Maui Health and has served on several boards in the past including Bayhealth, By the Bay Health, Canopy Health, Health Career Connection, MarinHealth, and the Northern California Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Decosta received both her Master of Healthcare Administration and Bachelor of Science degrees in health promotion and disease prevention, and health policy and management at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.