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(ELMA, WA) – On Dec. 5 Summit Pacific welcomed Chief Talent and Legal Officer, Jennifer Burkhardt, JD to their executive team. Jennifer joins Summit Pacific with more than 25 years of human resources and legal experience, and a background that spans 13 years in healthcare.

“We are excited to round out our executive leadership team with this final piece,” said Josh Martin, CEO. “Jennifer will help us build essential programs and systems to support our hospital’s talent and organizational growth well into the future.”

Jennifer will provide department oversight of Human Resources, Marketing and Communications, Patient Experience, Risk and Compliance. Other key areas of focus will include employee development, leadership development and employee engagement. She will also oversee contract management, legal, policies and much more.

Most recently, Burkhardt served as Chief Human Resource Officer and General Counsel for nine years at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles. She previously worked for Providence and Group Health, now Kaiser Permanente. Before moving into healthcare, Burkhardt spent 11 years working in private law practice as a partner at Seattle law firm Karr Tuttle Campbell.

In healthcare organizations, she has served as in-house legal counsel and in both frontline and leadership roles in human resources. Her experience encompasses handling not only legal, HR, contracts and regulatory matters, but also oversight of patient experience, marketing and communications, public relations, government affairs, compliance, risk management, education and various other support departments.

Her legal expertise includes advising on labor and employment, contractual matters, risk management, reimbursement and payer issues, technology agreements as well as federal and state compliance.

Jennifer attended the University of Washington for undergraduate studies, with a B.A. in Political Science, and the University of Washington School of Law where she completed her JD with an emphasis in contract administration and labor law. Her certifications include global professional in human resources (GPHR), certified professional in HR (SHRM-SCP), certified mediator and a professional marketing certification awarded by the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development.