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News release: NationalSeptember 2, 2005
Kaiser Permanente Pledges Total of $3 million to Hurricane Relief First $2 million pledged to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation to fund public health efforts in Gulf Coast (Oakland, Calif.) Kaiser Permanente today announced a pledge of $3 million to fund hurricane relief efforts in the stricken Gulf Coast region. The first $2 million from Kaiser Permanente will go to launch the CDC Foundation's Hurricane Katrina financial response efforts in its drive to support public health department assistance in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. This initial pledge is part of a multi-pronged response by Kaiser Permanente to provide medical assistance to the large-scale natural disaster, according to George C. Halvorson, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals chairman and chief executive officer, and The Permanente Federation Executive Director Francis J. Crosson, MD. "We are humbled by the scope of this tragedy and feel compelled to be the initial donor to the CDC Foundation's vital effort addressing the public health needs of the Gulf Coast region," said Raymond J. Baxter, Kaiser Permanente senior vice president of Community Benefit. "Public health departments are a critical infrastructure for communities in a natural disaster like this, and in the ongoing protection of communities' health over time. This donation is an affirmation of Kaiser Permanente's longstanding partnership with the CDC to protect the nation's health." Kaiser Permanente will be committing an additional $1 million in funds to long-term hurricane recovery relief. The organization is also committed to provide significant volunteer support in the relief efforts in the coming months. This week the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a call to the nation's health care organizations to help with the staffing and operations needs of a series of 40 "medically enhanced shelters" -- field hospitals being established at federal facilities in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. "On behalf of the many doctors who make up the Permanente Medical Groups across the country, we take pride in Kaiser Permanente's initial contribution to the critical relief work helping those devastated by the effects of Hurricane Katrina," said Crosson. "The work of the CDC has always been vital to the high standard of public health we take for granted in this country, and never more essential than in this critical time of need." "It's hard to imagine anyone in greater need than the working families in the Gulf Coast region," said Peter diCicco, executive director, Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions. "We are partnering with Kaiser Permanente to put the compassion and expertise of union members to work in whatever way we can." In light of the scope of the hurricane's devastation, CDC Director Julie Gerberding requested that the CDC Foundation's Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund be made available to the CDC's state and local partners assisting with the emergency response. The fund, established after 9/11, provides the CDC with flexible, immediate resources to use in a national public health emergency. The CDC's Emergency Operations Center will coordinate and prioritize these activities. Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit; group practice prepayment program headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of more than 8.3 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 142,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 12, 000 physicians representing all specialties. # # # |
