Richard Bottner, DHA, PA-C, CPHQ, FACHE, is Chief Clinical Officer at the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, an international nonprofit dedicated to advancing compassion for patients, families, and care teams. He leads the Schwartz Center's program strategy and impact, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships with healthcare organizations and leaders around the world. His work focuses on translating compassion from an individual value into an organizational practice that can be intentionally cultivated, supported, and sustained across healthcare systems.

A physician associate, Dr. Bottner's career has spanned clinical care, quality and patient safety, workforce well-being, association leadership, and health systems improvement. Before joining the Schwartz Center, he served as Vice President of Clinical Excellence at the Colorado Hospital Association, where he led statewide initiatives to improve healthcare quality, strengthen clinical leadership, and address complex workforce and population health challenges.

Previously, Dr. Bottner was an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed an innovative hospital-based program to expand access to treatment for patients with opioid use disorder. The model was subsequently adopted by health systems across the United States, extending access to evidence-based addiction treatment for hospitalized patients.