William Elliott, MD
“Guiding our pharmaceutical choices is extremely gratifying, I’ve loved doing that for our members.”
Dr. William Elliott’s leadership skills have been much in demand ever since his days as chief medical resident in Oakland from 1981-1982.
Soon after he transferred to San Rafael in 1986, he was tapped to chair the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and 27 years later, he continues to oversee all medication issues at the medical center.
Dr. Elliott’s ability to get things done was recognized early on, and he was recruited to tackle regional pharmacy projects in the 1990s. Many of these projects charted new ground for the region; Dr. Elliott’s work resulted in the creation of Northern California’s first two clinical guidelines (for hypertension and cholesterol) and the first formulary/contracting collaboration with KP Health Plan, which has yielded considerable clinical benefit. He served as chair of the Regional Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee, and for the last 24 years, as chair of the Regional Formulary committee.
His leadership was in equal demand on the local level. He was asked to become the Physician-in-Charge of the Novato facility when it opened in 1990 and since 2007 has assumed a leadership trifecta as APIC for Novato, Petaluma and Medical Specialty Access.
Since 1996, he’s been the first and only Medical Director of an innovative partnership between Kaiser Permanente and four health care clinics in West Marin, which provide services for members in an otherwise underserved area.
“For me, leadership is all about team-building and collaboration,” says Dr. Elliott. “I enjoy helping people move forward together.”