Kaiser Permanente

Responding to Hurricane Katrina

Kaiser Permanente physicians and employees across the nation have responded to the needs of Hurricane Katrina survivors with an outpouring of donations, offers of assistance and myriad volunteer efforts. Many of our people with previous disaster relief experience and connections have already gone to the Gulf Coast area under the auspices of national and regional relief organizations.

We are gearing up regionally to extend assistance to our communities as they receive evacuees from the disaster-torn Gulf Coast Region.

On September 2, Kaiser Permanente made an initial pledge of $3 million to fund hurricane relief efforts in the stricken Gulf Coast region. The first $2 million of that sum was contributed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund to support public health department assistance in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The foundation was able to disburse part of that contribution immediately to health departments across the region to be used for purchases of prescription drug and urgently needed medical supplies.

This early response is part of our multi-pronged plan to provide medical assistance to the people affected by this natural disaster. Our donation to the CDC Foundation is an affirmation of Kaiser Permanente’s long-standing partnership with the CDC to protect the nation’s health.

We have earmarked the additional $1 million for distribution to disaster-relief organizations, longer-term relief to meet the humanitarian needs of the evacuees, and/or assistance with rebuilding efforts in the affected areas. The details are being worked out at this time.

Kaiser Permanente is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, state and local public health departments and emergency offices, and major nonprofit organizations to identify volunteer opportunities and facilitate volunteer efforts among the many physicians and staff who would like to assist with disaster relief efforts. More than 600 potential disaster relief volunteers signed up on our Disaster Relief Volunteer web site on September 2, the first day the site was available. The count is now more than 900 potential volunteers.

We understand that the human needs in the aftermath of this tragedy will be substantial and long-term. We are working to put structures in place to extend support into the future, as it is needed.