Kari M. Bruffett

Kari M. Bruffett became President and CEO of the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) in May 2022. A leader with experience in national and state health policy, at KHI she has advanced efforts to support effective policymaking through new and enhanced services while continuing to ensure high-quality, objective research, education and engagement.

Kari currently serves on the Board of Directors for Midland Care, the Strategic Advisory Board for the Healthcare Institute for Innovations in Quality, and the core team for the Kansas Center for the Advancement of Healthcare. In 2023 she served on the Public Health Services and Systems Research Guiding Council and from 2019-2023 was a member of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services.

Kari was previously KHI’s Vice President for Policy. Prior to KHI, Kari held executive leadership roles in state government, serving as Secretary of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services and as the Director of the Division of Health Care Finance at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the state Medicaid agency. She served eight years in government affairs at The University of Kansas Hospital and four years in Washington D.C. as a congressional staffer. A longtime Kansan, Kari received a bachelor’s degree in Communication with a Journalism emphasis from Fort Hays State University.