Kaiser Permanente’s Heritage
| 10/24/12 | Kaiser Permanente has Embraced Diversity Since its World War II Beginnings Kaiser Permanente has embraced diversity since its beginnings in the World War II shipyards, and the organization’s ranks have included many disabled individuals who made significant contributions despite their handicaps. Harold T. Willson, a wheelchair-bound Kaiser Permanente financial analyst, was one such person. |
| 10/2/12 | Henry Kaiser, America’s Top Industrialist The epitome of the American self-made man, Henry J. Kaiser grew up poor and turned himself into the most innovative American industrialist since Henry Ford. He took the most pride in his establishment of a medical care plan — still carrying his name in Kaiser Permanente — since he knew well-being and injury prevention were crucial to America. Read more on Investors.com » |
| 5/24/12 |  Celebrations highlight Kaiser Permanente’s Ties to San Francisco Bay Area Historical TreasuresTwo events this Memorial Day weekend highlight Kaiser Permanente’s contributions to the history of the San Francisco Bay Area. The landmark Golden Gate Bridge celebrates its 75th anniversary, and the Rosie the Riveter Home Front National Park in Richmond (Calif.) hosts the grand opening of its long-awaited Visitor Education Center. |
| 3/1/12 | ‘Quest for the Best’: Kaiser Permanente’s Seven-Decade Quality Journey “Quest for the Best” is an eight-part series on Kaiser Permanente’s “A History of Total Health” blog that chronicles the organization’s perpetual efforts to devise and refine ways to measure and improve quality of patient care. Installments will be posted weekly. Part 1 tells the story of Kaiser Permanente’s early days in the World War II shipyards and its leaders’ careful physician selection, staff education and support for research into the 1940s and the 1950s. Read the series on the Kaiser Permanente History blog > |
| 12/22/11 | Almost Forgotten 1980s Original Kaiser Permanente Holiday Posters Rediscovered In posters presented to Kaiser Permanente employees during the holidays from 1985 to 1988, healthy lifestyle messages were integrated into artist Jonathon Nix’s whimsical scenes. In 1985, it was all about exercise; in 1986 and 1987, the message was automobile safety; and in 1988, it was about healthy eating. See the posters on the Kaiser Permanente History blog > |
| 9/6/11 | ‘Remember Them’ Monument Unveiled in Oakland, Calif. “Remember Them: Champions for Humanity,” a world-class monument featuring 25 humanitarians, was revealed Tuesday, Sept. 6 at Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park in Oakland, Calif. The social justice monument and park, with accompanying educational curricula, will teach schoolchildren about 25 international humanitarians from American history who made a difference through courage, perseverance, education, sacrifice and a desire to make life better for all. |
| 5/6/11 | Kaiser Permanente Honors Nurses During Annual Nurses Week Kaiser Permanente celebrates Nurses Week (May 6-12), to thank nurses for their compassion and dedication. Our heritage blog, “A History of Total Health,” marks the occasion with a four-part series on the history of nursing at Kaiser Permanente. The first installment explores the post-WWII period, when nurses returned from the front. |
| 2/24/11 | Country Joe Brings Florence Nightingale’s Legacy to Life Nurses have a friend in the music business. Country Joe McDonald, who many will remember as the creator of one of the most famous anti-Vietnam war anthems, has become enamored with 19th-century nursing angel Florence Nightingale and her successors. The singer has developed a website and live show — with original songs — to celebrate her compassionate work. Learn more on the Kaiser Permanente History blog > |
| 2/7/11 | Henry J. Kaiser inducted into Modern Healthcare’s ‘Health Care Hall of Fame’ Kaiser Permanente co-founder Henry J. Kaiser has been inducted into Modern Healthcare’s Health Care Hall of Fame. With Kaiser Permanente co-founder, Sidney R. Garfield, MD (1906-1984) — himself a 1988 inductee in the Modern Healthcare Health Care Hall of Fame — Kaiser forged Kaiser Permanente out of the challenge to provide Americans quality medical care during the Great Depression and World War II, when most people could not afford to see a doctor. |
| 8/12/10 | ‘Budding Rembrandts’ Collection Shows Children’s Perspective on Wartime Colorful, at times poignant, the artwork was created by youngsters in child care centers launched during World War II to support women working in the Richmond Kaiser Shipyards. The collection at the Richmond Museum of History was brought to light when discovered by former UC Berkeley professor and war veteran Joe Fischer. He will sign copies of his book, Children’s Art & Children’s Words Aug. 28 at the museum. Learn more on the Kaiser Permanente History blog > |
| 5/24/10 | Kaiser Permanente History Champion Receives National Park Service Award The National Park Service presented its Home Front Award to Kaiser Permanente’s Heritage Resources Director Tom Debley Monday as part of the city’s 2010 Historic Preservation Awards. |
| 12/1/09 | Health Care Pioneer Henry J. Kaiser Inducted Into the California Hall of Fame Kaiser Permanente cofounder Henry J. Kaiser was inducted into The California Hall of Fame on Tuesday night. Kaiser’s eldest granddaughter, Carlyn Kaiser Stark, accepted the Spirit of California medal on his behalf during a formal, private state ceremony in Sacramento. Kaiser was a noted industrialist and shipbuilder whose greatest legacy is Kaiser Permanente, one of the world’s first prepaid health plans, which he co-founded with Sidney R. Garfield, MD in 1938. |
| 8/28/09 | Sidney Garfield, MD, and His Legacy Regaled at The Commonwealth Club Kaiser Permanente’s chief historian, Tom Debley, told a packed house that many of Dr. Garfield’s ideas, from decades ago, are central to many health care reform discussions today. |
| 8/21/09 | Kaiser Permanente Historian to Highlight Dr. Sidney Garfield, Health Care Reform, at The Commonwealth Club Tom Debley, Kaiser Permanente’s director of heritage resources, will talk about Dr. Garfield, Kaiser Permanente’s cofounder, and how so many of today’s ideas regarding health care reform were things that Dr. Garfield espoused decades ago. |
| 7/24/09 | Kaiser Permanente Launches History Blog on World Wide Web Titled “A History of Total Health,” the blog will share important tidbits about Kaiser Permanente’s 70-plus years of shaping health care in America, and how those tidbits are more relevant today than ever. It will show how Kaiser Permanente’s historic mission — to provide high-quality care at an affordable price through a prepay health plan and group practice medicine — is more relevant today than ever. |
| 4/23/09 | Kaiser Permanente Honors Founding Physician Sidney Garfield, MD, with Release of Biography The book, titled “Sidney R. Garfield, MD: The Visionary Who Turned Sick Care into Health Care,” chronicles Dr. Garfield’s vision of American health care — from a 12-bed hospital in California’s Mojave Desert to what is now the nation’s largest health care delivery system and not-for-profit health plan. The biography was released today and is available for purchase. |
| 4/6/09 | Kaiser Permanente: 50 Years of Health IT Leadership In honor of Kaiser Permanente winning 12 Stage 7 Awards from the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society, this slideshow looks at Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to using technology to enhance care — from Sidney Garfield, MD, to present day. |
| 3/4/08 | Cecil Cutting, Kaiser Permanente Pioneer, Dies at Age 97 Dr. Cutting was the first physician hired by Dr. Sidney R. Garfield when Dr. Garfield joined forces with industrialist Henry J. Kaiser to provide prevention-oriented, prepared medical care for Kaiser's workers building Grand Coulee Dam in 1938. |
| 9/14/07 | Kaiser Permanente hosts “Henry J. Kaiser: Think Big” Exhibit at Home Front Festival The festival, along with two public broadcasting documentaries that will air this month, highlight Henry J. Kaiser's considerable impact on the World War II home front effort. |
| 3/21/07 | Learning from Yesterday The initiative hopes to meet the challenges of the future by learning lessons from the past. Working in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, the University of California at Berkeley Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) this month launched a new Web site containing a year's worth of interviews with figures from Kaiser Permanente's rich history, and that is just the beginning. |
| 2/15/07 | “A Health Plan, not a Sick Plan” Kaiser Permanente has developed a short-hand term for the comprehensive, prevention-oriented services it champions: Total Health. Total Health’s roots were evident in Kaiser Permanente’s earliest days. |
