Kaiser Permanente’s Community Benefit Annual Report
We invite you to review Kaiser Permanente’s community benefit activities and performance in the Northwest and nationwide in the 2008 Community Benefit Report, available online here and in the 2008 Kaiser Permanente Northwest Community Annual Report here.
With unprecedented numbers of Americans uninsured as a result of the economic crisis, our community benefit work has taken on new weight. We want our communities to emerge from this recession in good health, and we are continuing our work to improve access to high-quality health care and invest in the creation of healthy environments.
In 2008, our community benefit investment nationally was more than $1 billion—locally, Kaiser Permanente Northwest invested more than $68 million to improve the health of the community. A few of the local highlights in the Northwest include:
- Our Child Health and Transitions programs provided full health care coverage to 5,714 low-income children and adults.
- More than 64,000 nonmembers and members benefited from our financial assistance program
- Our Educational Theatre Program production of The Pressure Point was viewed by 32,268 children in Oregon and Southwestern Washington schools.
- We opened up our 110 Continuing Medical Education programs to community health clinic staff —and 227 participated in both online and instructor led programs.
- Our Center for Health Research began 126 studies funded by the government and other nonprofits and published 190 findings.
- We awarded 36 grants to support employee volunteer involvement in community-based organizations.
- We awarded $2.9 million grants and donations through the community.
Our community benefit work offers a real resource to policymakers designing national health reform: our programs for the uninsured, our partnership with the safety net to improve care and eliminate disparities, our work with communities to develop healthier environments, and our research on what truly works to heal patients and to keep people healthy. We are hopeful about the possibility of health reform that is upon us. And we won’t let up on our commitment to our communities, especially the individuals and organizations hardest hit by the economy.
We hope you will take a moment to learn more about our work in the Northwest and across the country by reviewing these reports.
Thank you for your time and support.
Best regards,
Nancy H. Stevens, Ph.D
Director, Community Benefit
Kaiser Permanente, Northwest Region
Raymond J. Baxter, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Community Benefit,
Research and Health Policy
Kaiser Permanente