Working to transform the mental health care system — together

This message was sent from Darin Tankersley, MBA, PhD, chief operating officer, Southern California Permanente Medical Group; and Marcel Delhommeau, senior vice president, Human Resources, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals in Southern California and Hawaii.

As you know, there is an ongoing mental health crisis in America, and demand for the excellent care that mental health professionals like you provide has soared since the pandemic. Over the past several years we've been working to transform the mental health care system. We're pleased to report that thanks to your hard work we are making significant progress.

We know there is still work to do — and we know that building stronger, better mental health care involves us continuing to listen to our members, our customers, and you. Here's what we want you to know:

You are essential to our efforts to transform mental health care in California.

We believe that everyone should be able to access quality mental health care when they need it — and we're doing something about it.

• We've invested more than $1 billion since 2020 to expand our mental health services in California. In Southern California we've recently added 6 new clinical facilities.
• We see strong interest in mental health professionals wanting to join Kaiser Permanente. We've grown our mental health workforce in California by 22% — adding more than 1,000 additional therapists across the state since 2020.
• We launched an academy to train new mental health professionals that has already produced 100 graduates and has more than 300 current enrollees.
• We're still hiring — with 350 open mental health care positions across California.

Your talent and professionalism are the reason we're making progress.

Independent reviews report that Kaiser Permanente's mental health services are among the best in California.

• We received a perfect 5 stars for behavioral and mental health care, according to the California Office of the Patient Advocate's 2023-24 Health Care Quality Report Card.
• Kaiser Permanente in Southern California obtained the highest rating for behavioral health care coordination and behavioral health access, monitoring, and safety, according to the 2024 NCQA Report Card.
• Kaiser Permanente is committed to consistently meeting or exceeding California standards for timely mental health care access and return appointments.

There is more to be done, and working together we will continue to make progress.

We are focused on reaching a strong new contract that benefits you and your families.

Discussions with NUHW are ongoing, and we want to share with you the key principles that are guiding us during this process:

• We respect your work and are committed to working with NUHW to reach an agreement that allows you to deliver the best mental health and addiction care for all our members.
• We want you to feel rewarded for the excellent care you provide our members every day by continuing to receive market-leading compensation and some of the most generous benefits in California.
• We understand that excellent care benefits from preparation and follow-up. Our proposal provides time to plan and prepare.

Please read this fact sheet about all the ways we are building a better model of mental health care.

We believe it is possible to reach an agreement in the coming weeks, yet, we have also started to hear NUHW leadership prematurely talking about open-ended strike authorizations, work stoppages, and disruption. We believe that this undermines the work we need to get done together.

As an organization, we have a long history of working productively with more than 40 unions, and we employ the largest number of represented health care workers in the country. We understand give and take. We continue to come to the table ready to negotiate. We ask the same of NUHW.

Thank you for everything that you do each day for your patients and our members.