Dr. Nabil Chehade takes over as president and executive medical director of the Ohio Permanente Medical Group, a Kaiser Permanente physician network, on Jan. 1.

Chehade, 46, will lead 200 healthcare professionals in Kaiser's medical offices in northeast Ohio, according to a news release. He replaces Dr. Ronald Copeland, who will move to Oakland, Calif., where he will be the Kaiser Permanente senior VP of diversity strategy and policy. Copeland, 61, has held the president and executive medical director post for 15 years.

"Healthcare in America is in the midst of one of the most extraordinary and challenging times in history," Chehade, a urologist, said in the release. "The healthcare industry is and will continue to evolve as the nation shifts to a new healthcare delivery system and Kaiser Permanente, which is both a healthcare provider and health plan, is well positioned for this new environment."

Other posts Chehade has held with OPMG include assistant medical director of medical specialties and imaging services, chief medical informatics officer, lead physician for coding and documentation and chief of urology.