Greg A. Adams

Adams was raised in Carrollton, Georgia, a small town outside of Atlanta. At the age of 15, he graduated from Villa Rica High School in 1973.

Adams graduated from nursing school at the age of 18. His first job was working as an emergency room nurse at Crawford Long Memorial Hospital (today Emory Midtown, Atlanta). Later, while living in the Brookhaven section of Atlanta, he discovered Oglethorpe University. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Oglethorpe in 1979,

and received a master's degree in nursing administration from Wichita State University.

At age 31, Adams became CEO of his first hospital.

In 1999, Adams began his career at Kaiser Permanente as a senior vice president based in Los Angeles, California. In April 2008, Adams was named regional president for Northern California.

In July 2013, he was promoted to executive vice president. In 2016, he added group president to his title and was responsible for overseeing all eight Kaiser Permanente Regions, 39 hospitals, and 701 medical office facilities.

In 2019, Adams was named chair and chief executive officer of Kaiser Permanente.

In 2025, he ranked #2 on Modern Healthcare's most influential people in health care.