We invest in work to address systemic racism and social drivers of health, as well as work that supports health research and the future health care workforce. We’re committed to providing resources to help the most vulnerable people in our communities and to focus on efforts in the following areas.
As part of our commitment to advancing racial and health equity, we are supporting several organizations to outreach to communities of color with a comprehensive COVID-19 awareness and education campaign.
Communications technical assistance is provided by Public Good Projects to support trusted messengers, disseminate culturally relevant information, and engage influential social media personalities.
We support local organizations and their ongoing work to address hate crimes and related incidents within the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in Colorado.
The support pairs with our national Stop Anti-Asian Hate and Violence Initiative established in conjunction with Asian Americans Advancing Justice in July 2021. This national collaboration includes a $3.6 million commitment to 33 organizations from the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities where Kaiser Permanente has a presence.
As a large, influential organization in our communities, we recognize that the way we do business can support economic opportunity in local communities when we are intentional about how we hire and partner with communities.
We’re helping revitalize and grow our communities by strengthening economic opportunity in many ways.
We believe it is our obligation as a health care provider to minimize our environmental impact. We work to be environmentally responsible throughout our organization — in how we power our facilities, purchase food and medical supplies and equipment, manage waste, and invest in our communities. We also prioritize partnerships with others to develop policies and systems that strengthen community health and protect our environment.
Housing stability is a key factor in a person’s overall health and well-being. When individuals and families experience housing instability, they are faced with mental and physical stress and are forced to make hard choices between basic life necessities and paying for health care. Kaiser Permanente works within 4 key pillars: preventing homelessness, strengthening the homeless response system, transforming care, and increasing affordable housing.
We’re reaching out to Coloradans in a variety of ways to help them access healthy food resources within the state. Food for Life is our comprehensive initiative that transforms economic, social, and policy efforts so Coloradans have access to affordable, healthy food.
This online coordinated referral network is comprised of a resource directory with geographically based social service providers. It allows for electronic referrals among community-based organizations, public agencies, and health care providers.
We address health disparities and health inequities from a public health policy approach. CityHealth, an initiative of the de Beaumont Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, advances key policy solutions in America’s 40 largest cities by providing city leaders with an annual assessment of policies that influence health.
Thriving Schools brings together Kaiser Permanente’s extensive health care expertise and our partnerships with nationally recognized and trusted organizations working to support schools in becoming a beacon of health in their community. We take a comprehensive approach to school health, curating the best thinking and guidance on how to keep students, staff, teachers, and families healthy across these 4 dimensions of health:
For over 35 years, in Colorado we have been innovative in using the arts to inspire people to make healthy choices through our Arts Integrated Resources | AIR programs. AIR promotes greater community health through educational theater and experiential learning workshops for Coloradans of all ages.
The arts have long been recognized by educators for their power to connect individuals, heal communities, and raise awareness of public health issues. Our AIR programs focus on a variety of health topics, including: stress, anxiety, depression, suicide prevention, equity, racial justice, poverty, bias, food security, resilience, coping strategies, and trauma-informed practices. Through the years, more than 3 million people in Colorado have been reached by our complimentary Arts Integrated Resources programs. Learn more about our current programs at kp.org/air.
We seek to advance health and quality of care through research, education, and training.
Research is an essential part of what it means to be an evidence-based organization and we are part of one of the largest health research organizations of its kind in the country. Throughout our long history of conducting health services and medical research we have addressed issues regarding health care policy, quality of care, and quality of life.
In 1992, we established the Institute for Health Research in Colorado to develop and disseminate research knowledge to the public, particularly when the results of the project apply to community health and clinical practice.
Because of our long-standing commitment to medical education, we strategically create a diverse workforce by developing residents from underrepresented backgrounds.
Residents and students come from clinical affiliates, including the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Rocky Vista University. The resident and student rotations are provided through outpatient safety net clinic and inpatient hospital rotations in partnership with Saint Joseph Hospital.
Our nursing training programs offer a wide variety of educational and training opportunities for all levels of nursing experience. These programs provide participants an opportunity to gain specialized knowledge in nursing and clinical assisting. Specifically, our nursing departments support local licensed practical nurse, registered nurse, nurse practitioner, master’s in nursing, and doctor of nursing practice programs by providing clinical rotations for students.
Other nonphysician training programs include a variety of medical disciplines. Each discipline is exposed to a custom training program based on the skills needed postgraduation. Following are the programs in the allied health professionals and pharmacy professionals categories.
In addition to investing financially in our state’s communities, we’re also committed to providing other Kaiser Permanente assets and resources to improve community health and overall vibrancy in Colorado, including the time, talents, and expertise of more than 7,200 employees and physicians.
Every year, our employees provide thousands of hours of volunteerism to help with nonprofit efforts and community projects. These volunteer activities range from refurbishing schools to planting trees in parks to interacting with youth and seniors to supporting community walks/runs, and much more. Kaiser Permanente provides our Colorado employees with an innovative volunteer program that allows them up to 96 hours per year to volunteer at qualifying nonprofit projects in our communities.