Jimmy H. Hara, M.D. is a Commissioner of the City of Los Angeles’ Fire Commission. He is a Professor of Family Medicine and Interim Associate Dean for the College of Medicine of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. He is Professor of Clinical Family Medicine for the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Family Medicine Director Emeritus for the Kaiser Los Angeles Center for Medical Education. He previously served as the Director of Graduate Medical Education for the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region (for five Kaiser hospitals and twenty residency programs). He served as Lead Physician for Community Benefit for Southern California Kaiser Permanente; in that role he was the Permanente liaison to the public hospitals, free clinics, health centers, and health advocacy organizations in Southern California. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the UCLA PRIME (dual-degree MD) Program.
He served for twelve years on the Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission (Song-Brown Commission) for the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), including four years as Commission Chair. The Commission is the federal designee to determine health professional shortage areas and also funds family medicine residencies, nurse practitioner and physician assistant programs, and nursing schools. He serves on the Council of Advisors for the California Health Professions Education Foundation which provides scholarships and loan repayments for health professionals providing health services to medically under-served vulnerable populations. He served as District 3 Director on the Board of Directors for the California Academy of Family Physicians and is Immediate Past President of the California Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Board of Trustees.
He has been a volunteer physician at the Venice Family Clinic for four decades and was a member of the Venice Family Clinic Board of Directors for thirty years , including a recent stint as Board Chair. He spearheaded the Venice Family Clinic in their recent transition from a free clinic to a Federally Qualified Health Center. He now serves on the Board of Trustees of the Venice Family Clinic Foundation. He has also volunteered regularly for three decades at the Saban Free Clinic (formerly the Los Angeles Free Clinic) and for two decades at the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture. He is the Founding Director and Advisory Board Chair of the Los Angeles Albert Schweitzer Fellowship that affords opportunities for health professional graduate students to provide community service. He is currently on the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship National Board of Directors.
He served to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was the Medical Officer for the Cruiser Destroyer Force of the Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam War. He is an active supporter of the Soldier Project and the Wounded Warrior Project to aid returning veterans in dealing with their mental health and medical issues. He is an active member of Physicians for Human Rights, which was recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for their International Campaign to Ban Landmines. He is Past President and currently Vice President of the Los Angeles Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) and has served on their National Board of Directors. Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is the United States affiliate of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. His wife and two sons were start- to-finish marchers in the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament in 1986 starting in Los Angeles and finishing in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
In 2000 he was awarded the California Academy of Family Physicians “Barbara Harris Award for Educational Excellence” in medical student, residency, and continuing medical education. In 2002, he was the recipient of the UCLA School of Medicine “Award for Excellence in Education” and also won the USC Department of Family Medicine “Teacher of the Year” award. He was recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians as the 2006 “National Outstanding Residency Program Director” in recognition of his leadership, teaching, and community service. In 2006, he was the recipient of the inaugural “David Lawrence Award for Community Service” from the Kaiser Foundation National Board of Directors. He was recognized in 2009 by the Medical Board of California as the “Physician Humanitarian of the Year.” He currently serves as an At-Large Director on the Board of Directors for the American Board of Family Medicine, the national Board-certification agency for family physicians.