Episode Summary: Brian Erling, MD, President and CEO of Renown Health

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast | October 19, 2025
Host: Madeline Ashley
Guest: Dr. Brian Erling, President and CEO, Renown Health

Overview

This episode features Dr. Brian Erling, President and CEO of Renown Health, discussing the health system's recent joint venture with Kaiser Permanente to launch a new outpatient care delivery system and co-own the Hometown Health plan in Northern Nevada. The conversation delves into the motivations, goals, anticipated community impact, and key leadership lessons that emerged from the partnership, providing a window into strategic health system growth and the future of managed care in the region.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Renown Health Background and Mission

• Largest not-for-profit health system in Nevada, serving Northern Nevada and the Eastern Sierras
• Operates trauma and tertiary centers, with about 700 providers and an academic affiliation with the UNR School of Medicine
  [01:06] C: "Renown Health is the largest not for profit health system in the state of Nevada...We are the academic affiliate...We have a health plan, Hometown Health, which is...the subject of some of our discussion today."]

2. Origins of the Kaiser Partnership

• Primary mission: Ensuring accessible and affordable healthcare for the community
• Wanted to maintain influence in managed care to translate cost savings into lower premiums for the community, not insurer profits
  [02:37] C: "If one of our core tenets of our mission is to assure that we have access to healthcare to our community that it's affordable...we really need to maintain a presence in the managed care space. Otherwise frankly, all the work you do to keep to control costs...are just translated to profit for insurance companies."]
• RFP process focused on not-for-profit partners; Kaiser Permanente chosen after a 20-month process
• Structure: Hometown Health becomes a 50/50 joint venture, with Kaiser having controlling interest; long-term focus on sustainable success, independence, and scalable growth
  [03:43] C: "We really just looked for a partner in the health plan and thankfully Kaiser Permanente was willing to be creative and do something that they had never done before."]

3. Vision for the Future of Healthcare Delivery in Nevada

• Focus on expanding outpatient access, preventive care, and creating new care delivery models for Northern Nevada
• Immediate plans: Grow Kaiser Permanente Nevada with three new clinics in three years, catering to the large influx of Californians familiar with Kaiser’s model
  [05:25] C: "I'm excited that we're going to have a lot more access to care. We're going to have that Kaiser Permanente model which is desirable to so many people...it's going to create an entirely new model in the state of Nevada."
• Long-term goal: Extend the model statewide over the next decade

4. Adapting to Population Growth & Diversity

• Collaboration allows Renown to focus on high-acuity care and academic missions while expanding outpatient services and preventive care
• Serves a geographically vast, diverse, and rapidly growing region
  [06:38] C: "We serve about 100,000 square miles. And this allows us to continue to focus our resources into delivering the best care possible for that community."

5. Measures of Success (2026 and Beyond)

• Key milestones: Finalizing regulatory approval, closing the transaction, and launching new clinics
• Rolling out Kaiser’s IT platform and full “Kaiser Permanente experience” by 2027
• Metrics: Membership growth, per capita cost of care, and sustainably affordable healthcare
  [07:47] C: "We're also looking at cost of care per capita and ensuring that we maintain that where it needs to be. So in Nevada, northern Nevada, we're...a little below median as far as total cost of care per capita. I think that's an okay place to be. But we want to ensure affordability well into the future."

6. Leadership Lessons from the Partnership

• Necessity of humility in recognizing the limits of scale and need for a partner
• Importance of ongoing reflection and board engagement to ensure the partnership continued to align with Renown’s mission and best interests
  [08:39] C: "It took a lot of humility, frankly, for myself and my leadership team to take a step back and go, do we need help?...Those frequent pauses, those frequent introspections were really helpful to ensure that we made the right decision."
• Outcome: Win-win for the organizations and the community

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Maintaining Mission with Managed Care:
  [02:37] C (Dr. Erling):
  “We really need to maintain a presence in the managed care space. Otherwise frankly, all the work you do to control costs... are just translated to profit for insurance companies.”

• On the Uniqueness of the Partnership:
  [04:07] C:
  “We were really just looking for a partner in the health plan and thankfully Kaiser Permanente was willing to be creative and do something that they had never done before.”

• On Community Impact and Changing the Market:
  [05:25] C:
  “We’re going to have that Kaiser Permanente model which is desirable to so many people… it’s going to create an entirely new model in the state of Nevada.”

• On Leadership and Decision-Making:
  [08:39] C:
  “It took a lot of humility, frankly, for myself and my leadership team to take a step back and go, do we need help?...Those frequent pauses, those frequent introspections were really helpful to ensure that we made the right decision.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction to Renown Health and Dr. Erling: [00:58 – 01:52]
• Background/Motivation for Kaiser Partnership: [02:23 – 04:51]
• Vision for Health System Growth and Innovation: [05:06 – 06:18]
• Addressing Population Growth and Diversity: [06:18 – 07:02]
• Defining Success and Key Metrics: [07:16 – 08:15]
• Leadership Lessons and Reflections: [08:25 – 09:48]

Tone & Style Notes

• The tone of the conversation is strategic and optimistic, with Dr. Erling emphasizing transparency, mission alignment, and the long-term vision for community health.
• Both host and guest speak directly, prioritizing clarity on process, practical impacts, and the human element behind large-scale healthcare transformation.