Kaiser Permanente in the Community
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. To do that, we know we must focus on the impact we can have on our community at home and its tireless workers who care for our well-being, day in and day out. We recognize that the health of our community is so much more than physically healing a broken bone or prescribing medications. That’s why we are making financial contributions starting with housing and education.
ACCESS IS HEALTH
Kaiser Permanente is supporting the work of community organizations to provide care to more Georgians across the state. In Georgia, the percentage of uninsured residents is 14% with many having incomes below 150% of the federal poverty level. About a third of Georgians, or 3.3 million, live in an area with a primary care shortage.
That’s why Kaiser Permanente is investing $1 million in grant funding to provide support to two organizations that are working to increase access to care for the uninsured and underinsured in Georgia:
Georgia Charitable Care Network will receive $350,000
Georgia Charitable Care Network and the member clinics provide critical support for uninsured individuals that are dealing with chronic conditions. Grant funding will be used to improve the clinic capacity and patient outcomes for at least 10 of Georgia’s free and charitable clinics by increasing the numbers served of patients with two or more chronic diseases. This partnership will help to support the safety net across the state and provide access to care for over 30,000 people.
Georgia Association for Primary Health Care, Inc. will receive $700,000
Georgia Association for Primary Health Care will use funds to support the Community Health Worker (CHW) project work with three Federally Qualified Health Centers in rural areas surrounding metro Atlanta. The project’s overall goals are to assist Medicaid-eligible Georgians in their reapplication or applications for benefits, with an additional specific focus on the Hispanic population.
EQUITY IS HEALTH
At Kaiser Permanente, we believe access to proper health care should be available to all Georgians, no matter where you live in our state. That’s why we are committing $1.2 million to hospitals in rural areas of Georgia to help increase access to care.
According to Georgians for a Healthy Future, rural Georgians experience health disparities in many ways: they are less likely to have job-based health insurance, may have to travel long distances to seek medical care, and experience higher rates of chronic health conditions than their suburban and urban counterparts.
Rural hospitals are often the foundations of rural communities, serving as both an economic engine and an access point for health care services. Access to quality health care leads to thriving communities, and that’s why Kaiser Permanente is investing in these hospitals.
Each of the following hospitals in rural areas of Georgia will receive a $120,000 donation from Kaiser Permanente:
- Candler County Hospital
- Colquitt Regional Medical Center
- Donalsonville Hospital
- Elbert Memorial Hospital
- Evans Memorial Hospital
- Irwin County Hospital
- Jasper Memorial Hospital
- Jefferson Hospital
- Liberty Regional Medical Center Foundation
- Wills Memorial Hospital Foundation
KNOWLEDGE IS HEALTH
Kaiser Permanente is supporting the work of community organizations to help improve Georgia’s maternal health outcomes by enhancing prenatal and postnatal care, linking childbirth support services, and addressing disparities in maternal care.
The maternal health organizations that Kaiser Permanente helped fund in 2022:
The Center for Black Women’s Wellness (CBWW) Doorways to Maternal Health project will work to improve outcomes among Black women and birthing persons in Atlanta during the prenatal and postnatal period through education, training, linkages to doula services for childbirth support, and stronger coordination of health care services post-delivery.
Grant amount: $96,855
Georgia Family Connection Partnership will work with Butts, Lamar, Meriwether, Spalding, Fayette and Clayton Family Connection Collaboratives to expand and enhance community-based work to improve women’s health and reduce the rate of low birthweight births. This Promoting Women’s Health: Low Birthweight Prevention Cohort project builds on the Low Birthweight (LBW) Prevention Project, which has assisted counties in development, implementation, and evaluation of local strategies to improve women’s health and reduce LBW and infant mortality by addressing socioenvironmental factors of health.
Grant amount: $99,000
EDUCATION IS HEALTH
Kaiser Permanente supports training and developing nurses to make a healthy difference. We understand more nurses means more trained advocates for care, resulting in better health outcomes in our communities. Providing access to education and training empowers individuals, creating real opportunities to thrive. That’s why we’re partnering with local colleges and universities and investing $100,000 in scholarships for nursing students and graduate loan repayments.
Kaiser Permanente funded scholarships for students at these Atlanta institutions in 2022:
Georgia Gwinnett College provides financial assistance for nursing students, faculty retention through graduate loan repayments, and Student Success Coach that provides mentoring for students and faculty. Together these activities will lead to faculty retention, student success and increased health professionals in the workforce.
Grant amount: $25,000
Georgia State University Nursing Program will provide scholarship support to students across Georgia State’s nursing programs.
Grant amount: $25,000
Clayton State University will receive scholarships to Support Nursing Student Success, providing financial assistance to nursing students through the KAISER nursing scholarship.
Grant amount: $25,000
Kennesaw State University and the Kaiser Permanente Fostering Nursing Faculty and Student Excellence at KSU grant promotes quality nursing education by providing scholarships for five deserving undergraduate and graduate nursing students as well as professional education in innovative teaching methods to approximately eight faculty.
Grant amount: $25,000
HOUSING IS HEALTH
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We understand that good health begins where people live. So, we’re partnering with local organizations and investing more than $1 million in grants to serve Metro Atlanta communities.
Kaiser Permanente has an ongoing commitment to end homelessness and preserve affordable housing by making strategic grants, shaping policy, and catalyzing innovative partnerships.
The organizations that Kaiser Permanente helped fund in 2022:
Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. will support the “2022-2023 Affordable Housing Investment in South DeKalb County and Clayton County” initiative, which will provide 30 single-family for-sale homes and single-family rental properties to primarily Black low- to moderate-income families and down payment assistance (DPA) for five additional families.
Grant amount: $200,000
Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation’s (AVLF) will help staff and volunteer attorneys to meet their clients where they are – their homes, schools, and community centers – to provide support for rental assistance, eviction prevention, and other legal services to keep families in their homes.
Grant amount: $200,000
Westside Future Fund will support quality cradle-to-career education and affordable housing for vulnerable residents of Atlanta’s Historic Westside. Westside Future Fund will implement short- and long-term efforts by constructing a new multifamily housing complex and providing rental assistance to stabilize families in need.
Grant amount: $200,000
Partners for HOME will support the goal of ending homelessness for 250 veterans in the City of Atlanta. Partners for HOME will employ a team of project managers targeting veterans and will work with direct service providers to devise a plan to end homelessness for this special population in collaboration with Community Solution’s Built for Zero program.
Grant amount: $150,000
