Our history

Kaiser Permanente’s groundbreaking integrated care model has evolved through the decades — and we’re still improving care delivery for our members to this day.

How we evolved

Discover our roots in the Great Depression and World War II shipyards and see how we’ve been revolutionizing care delivery since 1945.

See how we got started

Pioneers and groundbreakers

Our integrated care model

Innovation and research

Early leaders in equity and inclusion

Groundbreaking moments

Explore how people, medicine, and technology came together to shape Kaiser Permanente's mission: to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.

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nurse helping child with bandaged finger

A history of trailblazing nurses

Nursing pioneers lay the foundation for the future of Kaiser Permanente …

Sidney Garfield, MD sitting at a desk with a pen in hand.

Sidney R. Garfield, MD: Pioneer of modern health care

Kaiser Permanente’s co-founding physician spread prepaid care and the idea …

Henry J. Kaiser stands atop a ship in 1942

Henry J. Kaiser: America’s health care visionary

Kaiser was a major figure in the construction, engineering, and shipbuilding …

Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center

February 13, 2024

A legacy of life-changing community support and partnership

The Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center started as a …

2 men wearing business suits looking over a miniature model of a hospital

October 17, 2023

How Kaiser Permanente evolved

Sidney R. Garfield, MD, and Henry J. Kaiser came together to pioneer an …

room with computer equipment and medical technicians

September 13, 2023

Transforming the medical record

Kaiser Permanente’s adoption of disruptive technology in the 1970s sparked …

Mary Carroll accepts the Merit flag from Rear Admiral Howard L. Vickery on July 19, 1942.

Women lead an industrial revolution at the Kaiser Shipyards

Early women workers at the Kaiser shipyards diversified home front World …

Eastine Cowner removing coatings and corrosion from Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver at the Kaiser Richmond shipyard in 1943.

Hannah Peters, MD, provides essential care to ‘Rosies’

When thousands of women industrial workers, often called “Rosies,” joined …

woman conducting a medical exam on a baby who's being held by its mother

Nurse practitioners: Historical advances in nursing

A doctor shortage in the late 1960s and an innovative partnership helped …

The "Baby in the Drawer" hospital room from 1953

September 10, 2021

‘Baby in the drawer’ helped turn the tide for breastfeeding

This innovation in rooming-in allowed newborns to stay close to mothers …

Woman seated behind desk with 4 men standing in front

August 25, 2021

Kaiser Permanente’s history of nondiscrimination

Our principles of diversity and our inclusive care began during World War …

Black and white photograph of a man in the Kaiser Richmond shipyard wearing a hard hat and goggles on his head

A long history of equity for workers with disabilities

In Henry J. Kaiser’s shipyards, workers were judged by their abilities, …

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