Kaiser Permanente Coming To Santa Cruz In 2017

"We are excited to begin bringing our high-quality care and service to the people of Santa Cruz County," said Gregory A. Adams, group president and regional president of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals in Northern California. "Kaiser Permanente has been keeping our members healthy throughout Northern California for 70 years."

Pending regulatory approval, Kaiser Permanente will begin offering commercial and Covered California coverage and care effective January 1, 2017.

By next January, Kaiser Permanente plans to open three medical office buildings located at Crossroads Center in Watsonville, downtown Santa Cruz and the Granite Creek Business Center in Scotts Valley. Renovations will soon be underway to convert the properties into the welcoming, integrated, convenient medical office building environments that Kaiser Permanente members expect. All three medical office buildings will provide primary care and the Watsonville and Scotts Valley facilities will also feature some specialty services. In addition, all three facilities will offer technology that will facilitate telemedicine visits. The offices in Watsonville and Scotts Valley will also feature laboratory, pharmacy and radiology services.

Santa Cruz members will have access to the full range of health care benefits Kaiser Permanente is known for. Local hospital services and inpatient care will be provided by Watsonville Community Hospital as well as at nearby Kaiser Permanente medical centers in Santa Clara and San Jose.

"We are pleased to be selected as Kaiser Permanente's plan hospital for the Santa Cruz area," said Audra Earle, CEO of Watsonville Community Hospital. "We have been caring for this community for over 100 years and look forward to providing high quality care to Kaiser Permanente members."

Over time, Kaiser Permanente plans to continue to expand in Santa Cruz County based on the needs of the community and its members.

"We are national leaders in providing high quality medical care for our patients," said Robert Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. "Our physicians trained at the best programs in the nation, and they offer their patients highly personalized health care in the most technologically advanced ways possible. The result is we are leaders in prevention, chronic disease management and cutting edge surgical and medical interventions."

Kaiser Permanente first signaled its interest in becoming part of the Santa Cruz community when it obtained naming rights for the local basketball arena in 2012. Through Kaiser Permanente's partnership with the Santa Cruz Warriors, during the 2015-2016 season more than 6,000 students at nine local schools participated in programs designed to encourage literacy and math skills.

"Part of Kaiser Permanente's mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve," said Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager. "Kaiser Permanente has a long history of working with local schools, nonprofits, community partners and the health care safety net to identify community needs and we look forward to continuing to build strong partnerships with the Santa Cruz community."

Follow Kaiser Permanente in Santa Cruz on Twitter at @KPSantaCruz.

About Kaiser Permanente 
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 10 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

Contact:
Karl Sonkin, (408) 528-5168

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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente

Related Links

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org