Benjamin Kligler

Benjamin Kligler, MD, MPH

Executive Director, Office of Patient Centered Care & Cultural Transformation
Veterans Health Administration

You’ll be glad you saw Ben because…

He’s an idealist with a bold goal for what care can be and a practical leader who proves change is possible—at scale.

Ben’s helping America’s largest integrated health system (1,300 VA facilities, serving 9 million vets) change the health care conversation in ways that delight patients and decrease provider burnout.

Rather than asking patients, “What’s the matter with you?” Ben bonds with patients by asking, “What matters to you?” This is holistic, humanistic care built around what patients seek—not from a medical encounter, but from life.

Here’s the part you’ll really want to hear: Results show that Ben’s way works.


Benjamin Kligler, MD, MPH, is a board-certified family physician who has been working as a clinician, educator, researcher and administrative leader in the field of complementary and integrative medicine for the past 25 years. In May 2016 he was named National Director of the Integrative Health Coordinating Center (IHCC) in the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT) as well as Director of Education and Research for Whole Health. In May 2020 Dr. Kligler was named Executive Director of OPCC&CT. He is a Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and was Vice Chair and Research Director of the Mount Sinai Beth Israel Department of Integrative Medicine. He is also a core faculty member of the Leadership Program in Integrative Healthcare at Duke University.

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Quality Talks
May 03, 2023  |   WASHINGTON, DC