Building a better model of mental health care
Kaiser Permanente Southern California
We believe mental health and well-being are essential to an individual’s total health and we are committed to helping our members stay mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy. That starts with supporting our mental health professionals.
Quality
The California Office of the Patient Advocate rated our behavioral health and mental health care plans the best in California, with a perfect 5 stars on its 2023-24 Health Care Quality Report Card. Southern California also rated highest for behavioral health care coordination and behavioral health access, monitoring, and safety, according to the 2024 NCQA Report Card.
Access
We have invested more than $1 billion since 2020 to expand our mental health capabilities in California — with more mental health professionals, more resources, and shorter wait times — and we know there is more to do.
Wages and benefits
Our mental health professionals in Southern California earn market-leading wages and benefits in California. In Southern California, average tenure for our mental health professionals is 8 years, and our attrition rate is well below the industry average.
Hiring
Despite a national mental health workforce crisis, we’ve grown our mental health workforce in California by 22% — adding nearly 1,000 mental health professionals to support our members. We’re working to recruit an additional 350.
Diverse talent
We’re committed to attracting and retaining top talent who represent the diverse communities we serve. Around 70% of our Southern California mental health professionals identify as non-white.
Integrated approach
Recognizing every person’s needs are unique, our mental health professionals work with each patient to independently develop a care plan that is clinically appropriate and tailored specifically for them without requiring health plan approval — all while meeting state regulations on initial access to appointments.
Future workforce
We launched an academy to train new mental health professionals — adding nearly 150 professionals to our workforce since the program started. Around 250 are currently enrolled.
Expanding capacity
We have more mental health facility capacity for in-person visits than ever before. In Southern California, we now have 59 clinical facilities and 1,505 total offices that support in-person mental health care and services. This includes 6 new clinical facilities.