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Kaiser Permanente California Honored by U.S. Department of Labor for Exemplary EEO and Diversity Programs

Kaiser Permanente California Honored by U.S. Department of Labor for Exemplary EEO and Diversity Programs

Published 10-17-02

Submitted by Kaiser Permanente

OAKLAND & PASADENA, California - The California Regions of Kaiser Permanente, the country's leading integrated health care organization, will be honored today for their exceptional equal employment opportunity and diversity programs. At an awards banquet to be held tonight in Washington, DC, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao will present the 2002 Exemplary Voluntary Efforts (EVE) Award to Kaiser Permanente.

The EVE Award honors federal contractors that have demonstrated, through programs or activities, exemplary and innovative efforts to increase the employment opportunities of employees, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans. "Kaiser Permanente should take pride in the outstanding efforts it has made to offer women, minorities, and people with disabilities equal employment opportunities," said Chao. "Creating a workplace environment that is accessible to all provides everyone a chance at the American Dream."

Kaiser Permanente's submission included descriptions of its work in developing affirmative action plans; adopting policies and procedures that support diversity; establishing and supporting strong community outreach programs; delivering effective education and mentoring services through youth workforce preparation programs; actively participating in outreach, recruitment, retention and workforce planning, and supporting and encouraging broad-based, inclusive diversity initiatives through workforce diversity and engagement.

"We are very excited to have this external recognition of our years of work in the EEO arena," said Robert M. Pearl, MD, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Permanente Medical Group (in Northern California). "We want to be the employer of choice in health care and the health care organization of choice for the American public, and these efforts are key to achieving to reaching our goals."

"This means a lot to all of us at Kaiser Permanente," said Richard Cordova, President of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region. "Our members and their employers rely on us to hire and retain the best and brightest staff, and it's great to be recognized for our accomplishments."

Laurence G. O'Neil, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Bettie L. Coles, co-chair of the Northern California Diversity Council and Senior Vice President and Area Manager for the East Bay will be accepting the award on behalf of Kaiser Permanente.

For a list of the other organizations that will receive awards from the Department of Labor, visit the DOL website at: http://www.dol.gov or call 202/693-4676.

Examples of the programs that brought the EVE Award to Kaiser Permanente are:

-- Community Outreach Programs: Implementation of programs, specifically in the communities of Watts and Richmond, to create an awareness of career opportunities in the health care field.
-- Youth Workforce Preparation Programs: delivery of education and mentoring services to students in elementary, junior high, high school and college through programs such as the Kaiser Permanente Summer Youth Employment Program and INROADS.
-- Outreach, Recruitment, Retention and Workforce Planning: development and implementation of a recruitment program that has among its goals the recruitment and hiring of women and people of color in under-represented job groups.
-- Workforce Diversity and Engagement: supporting and encouraging broad-based, inclusive diversity initiatives that engage employees, which include multicultural staff and employee associations, local diversity councils, and partnerships with the union leaders who represent a majority of the organization's employees.

Note: for detailed information about any of these programs, contact Kaiser Permanente Media Relations.

Kaiser Permanente is a prepaid, group practice health maintenance organization (HMO), founded in 1945. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region has more than 3.1 million members. It includes 3,600 physicians in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) and 45,000 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals and medical group employees. The Region is served by 11 major medical centers. The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Region has almost 3.2 million members. It includes 4,451 physicians in The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) and approximately 46,000 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals and TPMG employees. The Region is organized into six service areas served by 19 major medical centers.

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