Special Publications

Kaiser Permanente recognizes that collaboration is key. Left, a community group meets weekly to identify and prioritize housing as part of Whole Person Care. s part of our mission to improve the health of the communities we serve, Kaiser Permanente has long recognized the importance of partnership and collab- oration. One example is our deep commit- ment to Healthy Marin Partnership (HMP). "It is a joy and a good thing for Kaiser Permanente to collaborate with communi- ty leaders to keep all who live, work, and play in our community healthy individually and collectively," says Pat Kendall, San Rafael Medical Center medical group ad- ministrator and HMP co-chair. "Our work is upstream respecting the need to help address the social determinants of health that create challenges that will take everyone to conquer. " HMP was formed in 1995, in response to a requirement that Marin's not-for-profit hospitals regularly assess the needs of our county. In addition to all three of Marin's local hospitals—including Kaiser Permanente San Rafael—HMP partners include Marin County Health & Human Services, Marin County Office of Education, Marin Community Foun- dation, and leadership from the local business community. "This multi-sectoral collaborative has advanced major community health initiatives—from ensur- ing all children in Marin have health in- surance to making the Marin County Fair the healthiest fair in the nation," says Lisa Santora, MD, Marin County deputy public health officer and HMP co-chair. In addition to HMP and its work to close the health equity gap, Kaiser Perma- nente supports the community in many other ways. We're working to end chronic homelessness in Marin through our part- nership with Built for Zero and Whole Person Care, and supporting housing, recovery, and youth services through organizations like Downtown Street Teams, Helen Vine (a program of Buck- elew), Homeward Bound, Ritter Center, and Huckleberry Youth Services. In our continued efforts to support behavioral health services, we've also provided grants or sponsorships to organizations like National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Marin), MCOE, and the YMCA. Through this funding and our longstanding collabora- tions with all our community partners, we can create better health outcomes for everyone. Caring in the Community A "It is a joy and a good thing for Kaiser Permanente to collaborate with community leaders to keep all who live, work, and play in our community healthy individually and collecvely." PAT KENDALL, San Rafael Medical Center Medical Group Administrator Experience the Caring • 3

• Cover