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Chief Legal and Administrative Officer

Robynn Van Patten

Robynn Van Patten is the Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President of Donor Network West. Robynn has served as counsel to various healthcare systems for over 29 years, and comes with a wealth of experience. Her passion and commitment to the field of healthcare compels her, and she is honored to work for an organization whose mission is devoted to saving lives in a very direct way.

Robynn practiced health care law in New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey at law firms that both merged with Drinker, Biddle and Reath for six years.

Returning to her hometown of San Francisco, CA, Robynn served as the Associate General Counsel for the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Department of Health and Human Services for Region IX, where she served several years as primary counsel for the Indian Health Services and its 19 Public Health Service hospitals across five states.

Robynn was recruited to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and served in the role of Senior Counsel, where she implemented HIPAA for the entire organization across the United States, in addition to providing counsel regarding managed care plans and provider relations.  After a nine year run at Kaiser, Robynn was recruited to the role of General Counsel at Daughters of Charity, a system of six Catholic hospitals and a medical foundation throughout the state of California.  She later accepted a position at a large hospital system, St. Joseph Health, where she served as Associate General Counsel (General Counsel of the Northern California Region) where she provided counsel to hospitals in Sonoma, Napa and Humboldt Counties for a number of years.  She elected to take a sabbatical, and she and her family enjoyed living in France for a year, while she performed remote work for clients. Robynn returned to California and served as the Chief Legal Officer for Community Medical Centers in Fresno, California for several years.  During the pandemic, she elected to open her own firm, from which she provided counsel to a number of large hospital systems throughout California.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her daughters Savannah, 15, and Sasha, 13, with her French husband, Eric, in their homes in the Sonoma wine country and in France where vast quantities of music, theatre, books, laughter, friends, family, art, cheese and baguettes are appreciated with gusto.