Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. Headquartered in Oakland, California, we currently serve more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia.

Kaiser Permanente is an industry leader because of our ongoing commitment to the integration of diversity and inclusion into all we do. That commitment starts at the top with Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson, who places a priority on creating a diverse and inclusive environment — at all levels of the organization.

“Kaiser Permanente is recognized for its diversity and inclusion because many of our people have exercised their freedom of speech over the years to raise issues, share insights, and ask for understanding,” said Tyson. “Diverse groups of people have offered their perspectives on topics that may have been uncomfortable for some to discuss at the time, but they ultimately have helped shape how we as an organization value and appreciate the diversity of our employees.”

Ronald L. Copeland, MD, FACS, senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, leads Kaiser Permanente’s efforts to further create and sustain cross-cultural competency, reduce health disparities, advance the workforce diversity agenda, grow the supplier diversity program, and achieve market growth across diverse populations.

“We are proud of our leadership role in driving diversity and inclusion as a moral imperative and business strategy,” said Dr. Copeland. “The times demand that we strengthen our enduring commitment to inclusion and amplify our voice in order to inspire a nation to secure health care affordability and equity for all communities.”

Kaiser Permanente’s comprehensive diversity and inclusion strategy aligns with the organization’s overall mission and consists of five pillars: care, workplace, marketplace, supplier diversity/community partnerships, and diversity and inclusion compliance.

Recent diversity and inclusion initiatives and accomplishments include:
• Reducing racial/ethnic disparities in survival rates among Kaiser Permanente patients who had colon cancer, according to a study by researchers from Stanford University and the University of California, San Francisco that was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. They found that compared to patients who received care outside of integrated health care systems, Kaiser Permanente patients received more evidence-based care.
• Committing to bringing more veterans and persons with disabilities into the workforce, and helping them find meaningful careers at Kaiser Permanente.
• Increasing women in top-tier leadership roles from 24 percent in 2013 to 33 percent in 2014.
• Investing 3.9 percent of our operating revenue in 2014 to stimulate healthy people, environments, and knowledge, and investing millions of dollars in community grants and donations, research, and care and coverage to nearly 87,000 children and adults through our charitable coverage program.
• Advancing supplier diversity by being inducted into the Billion Dollar Roundtable in 2014, becoming the first health care provider to receive this distinction.
• Being named a Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2015 Corporate Equality Index report, receiving a perfect 100 percent score for our efforts to promote a supportive work environment for employees and physicians.