Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Kathryn Austin Scott

No. 46

Scott is one of the most respected healthcare lobbyists in the Capitol. As the head of the California Hospital Association’s government affairs team, she sets CHA’s legislative agenda, negotiates deals with lawmakers and the governor and advises healthcare honchos around the state. With hospitals in constant fiscal torpor, the negotiations are never ending. That will only get worse as the impacts from massive federal healthcare spending reductions go into effect next year, so her work will always be cut out for her. But her track record is also pretty good. In recent years she has done yeoman’s work in helping hospitals avoid major Medi-Cal spending reductions, always a bone to be chewed in bad budget times. She is also widely respected for being able to bring disparate hospital and healthcare groups together on policy issues, which at times must feel like trying to reunite the Red Sea. But somehow she gets it done.