Dr. Kenneth Bell, OB-GYN credited for significant growth of Kaiser Permanente in Orange County, dies at 82

Dr. Kenneth Bell, a renowned OB-GYN who delivered more than 4,000 babies during his career and led Kaiser Permanente Orange County during a crucial time of growth and development in Orange County, died Saturday, July 14 after a prolonged illness. He was 82.

A long-time Long Beach resident, Bell was a mentor who encouraged and motivated hundreds of physicians, nurses and medical professionals, said Dr. Edward Ellison, executive medical director of Kaiser Permanente, Southern California.

“Dr. Bell took a deep interest in everyone he met,” Ellison said. “He encouraged me in my own career. He was a visionary who helped lead (Kaiser Orange County) from 150,000 members in 1988 to 300,000 members in 2001 when he retired.”

Bell was born in New York City on July 2, 1936. He graduated from The Bronx High School of Science and attended medical school at the University of Buffalo. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn.

Bell joined Kaiser Permanente in 1968 and was named medical director for Orange County in 1988.

Despite his reputation and accomplishments as an administrator, Bell was always an OB-GYN at heart, Ellison said.

“He cared deeply about his patients,” he said. “Delivering 4,000 babies in one’s career is truly significant. Even nurses and female physicians wanted him to deliver their babies.”

Delivering babies was something Bell loved so much that even after he became medical director, he took an overnight shift in labor and delivery.

“Nothing brought him greater joy than delivering babies,” Ellison said.

Bell has also been credited with bringing the concept of family-oriented obstetrical care to Kaiser Permanente, including birthing rooms set up to accommodate families through all stages of labor and delivery.

In 2008, a street at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Irvine was named “Ken Bell Boulevard” in his honor.

Ellison said Bell was responsible for planning the construction of the newer Kaiser hospitals in Anaheim and Irvine.

After his retirement in 2001, Bell was named chief medical officer of CalOptima, which administers health insurance programs for low-income children, adults, seniors and people with disabilities in Orange County.

In 2007, he retired from CalOptima to become chief medical officer of The Coalition of Orange County Community Clinics, a group of 17 clinics serving the uninsured and underinsured in Orange County.

Bell was an active member of University Synagogue in Irvine, where his memorial service was held Tuesday July 17. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Roberta, three daughters, three sons-in-law and four grandchildren.