Dr. Darryl Covington Hunter, MD

My Qualifications

As the son of a career Army dentist who retired at the rank of Colonel, I learned early that community service is an obligation of good citizenship. I followed in my dad’s path pursuing the twin careers of officership and medicine. I received my medical and military training at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences where I graduated in 1988. After completion of my medical doctorate, I entered my residency in radiation oncology at the University of California, San Francisco in 1990 and completed training as chief resident in 1993. After completing 17 years active service, I entered the Air Force Reserves where I continue to serve at the rank of Colonel while embarking on my second career as a physician with The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG). My time as a TPMG physician has allowed me to apply the lessons of leadership and experience gained during my military service to form collaborative partnerships. Kaiser Permanente has been a wonderful place …to harness the spirit of voluntarism for the benefit of collaboration with the greater Sacramento community.

My Healthcare Practice

My practice philosophy centers around the collaborative multidisciplinary model and benchmarking against best practices. I developed and chair the quality committee for North Valley’s radiation oncology department, the longest running quality radiation oncology quality committee in Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region. The implementation of this has led to reduced error rates, improved the proficiency of technical staff responding to emergency care after hours and reduced practice variation among our two North Valley Centers.

My Outside Interests:

-Sacramento Community Cancer Coalition

I serve as managing partner for the Sacramento Community Cancer Coalition, a collaboration of 11 independent community-based organizations committed to improving access to free cancer testing for underserved communities. This successful collaboration has attracted the support of local and state elected officials and its success in reaching a vulnerable population resulted in publication in peer review literature. Our initiative also includes training providers on unique issues of cancer disparities among underserved populations through the Annual Sacramento Cancer Disparities Symposium. We welcome cancer survivors to join us as spokespersons and advocates of early detection.

-Sacramento Community Veterans Alliance

I founded the Sacramento Community Veterans Alliance as a collaboration of civic leaders, veteran service organizations and government agencies to connect veterans within and outside of Kaiser Permanente to service-connected benefits. Fifty percent of veterans receive part of their health care outside of veteran health facilities and the lack of a common electronic medical record imposes significant delays in communicating information vital to disability determinations. We have successfully developed the Connecting Vets to Health Benefits Initiative in Sacramento which uses collaborative teams from the Veterans Administration Health System, Kaiser Permanente and the County Health Clinics to expedite that process.

-Dr. Ernest and Arthella Hunter Foundation, Inc.

Named in recognition of my parents, the Dr. Ernest and Arthella Hunter Foundation is a 501c(3) recognized nonprofit foundation dedicated to encouraging the training of physicians committed to improving access to cancer care for those in underserved communities. Scholarships will be developed for graduating college seniors who have gained acceptance into medical school and who have demonstrated a commitment to underserved communities through community service.