Santiago Muñoz

As chief strategy officer of UCLA Health, Muñoz oversees industry partnerships, business transactions, clinical business development, government payment programs, and strategic initiatives to improve market position.

Muñoz led transactions that grew UCLA Health’s size, scale, and breadth, including acquisition of a community hospital campus in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles for a state-of the-art academic health center. His portfolio includes a diverse group of joint ventures, an organic strategic community growth plan, and numerous strategic partnerships.

Before joining UCLA Health, Muñoz held a similar position at UC Health in the UC Office of the President. He led the development of systemwide business transactions, partnerships, and agreements with all major commercial payers in California, including conceptualizing and implementing UC Health’s role in a new HMO product. 

Muñoz has conceptualized partnerships, payment provisions, and strategies that resulted in significant protections and additional payments to academic medical centers. He played a lead role in developing the UC Center for Health Quality and Innovation and implementing the Medicaid Delivery System Reform Incentive Pool as a “bridge to reform” to provide federal funding for quality improvement efforts consistent with the Affordable Care Act. 

Muñoz has extensive experience in health care financing, health policy development, and strategic positioning. He is a former board member of the University of Arizona Health Network, Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego, and America’s Essential Hospitals. Muñoz is the past chair of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, a board member of Fiat Lux, the insurance captive of the University of California, and a board member of the Public Health Institute.