Kaiser Permanente Named to DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity

OAKLAND, Calif., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente has earned a coveted spot on the 2007 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list, the largest competition of its kind. Ranked 27th overall, this is Kaiser Permanente's second consecutive year being recognized by DiversityInc. The recognition is based on excellence in CEO commitment; human capital, corporate communications, and supplier diversity. A total of 317 companies competed for a spot on the list, a 100 percent increase in corporate participation in the Top 50 competition over the last three years. Kaiser Permanente has a long history of leadership in diversity management and advocacy.

"Simply put, diversity is how we achieve our mission and grow our business," stated Ronald Knox, vice president and chief diversity officer. "Kaiser Permanente has long been recognized nationally for its commitment to diversity, and as a leader in the development of culturally competent care and linguistic proficiency programs. We are pleased to be acknowledged with this distinction that recognizes our diversity strategy and its full integration into our core business."

"Kaiser Permanente is much different from the average corporation; it is a true champion of diversity," notes Luke Visconti, partner and cofounder of DiversityInc, a monthly business magazine and daily web site. The DiversityInc Top 50 companies, expressed as a stock index, beat the Standard & Poor's 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq on a 10-, five- and one-year basis, documenting the connection between good diversity management, excellent corporate governance and return on equity for investors.

The framework for diversity at Kaiser Permanente consists of a Board of Directors-mandated National Diversity Agenda designed to achieve the following:

-- Enhance the diversity, cultural competence, skill, and performance of our work force.

-- Grow membership through effective market segmentation approaches that target specific populations which are the fastest-growing segments of our society.

-- Provide culturally competent medical care and culturally appropriate service to improve the health and satisfaction of our increasingly diverse membership.

Advancement of this diversity agenda has enhanced Kaiser Permanente's diversity profile to include:

-- A workforce comprised of approximately 156,000 employees and 13,000 physicians representing all specialties of which 77% are women and 57% are people of color.

-- One of the most diverse Board of Directors in the nation comprised of 36% women and 50% people of color.

-- An Institute for Culturally Competent Care that leads efforts to reduce health disparities through the incorporation of culturally competency into the health care delivery system

-- Multicultural Staff Associations consisting of racial, ethnic, gender, disability, and sexual orientation affinity groups, which serve as a rich source of cultural expertise and a primary linkage to affinity communities.

-- Nine Centers of Excellence established to improve health outcomes for targeted populations of color by developing replicable treatment protocols and attaining higher efficiencies in care delivery.

-- The award-winning and nationally acclaimed Health Care Interpreter Training Program, an innovative and cost-effective approach to address the dearth of qualified health care interpreters and the growing needs of limited English proficient communities.

-- Community health fairs held annually provide free, quality medical care to low income community residents

"Our work force reflects the wonderful racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation and disability diversity of our membership," affirmed George Halvorson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, Inc. "We have been a leader for a very long time in creating excellent care for a very diverse set of people. Our workforce reflects our commitment to that agenda."

Companies on the DiversityInc Top 50 are remarkable in several ways:

-- The Top 50 hire 42 percent people of color; the U.S. work force is 29 percent people of color*

-- Although Top 50 companies employ only 5 percent of the U.S. work force, they employ 17 percent of the college-educated people of color*

-- Twenty-five percent of Top 50 companies' management are people of color, compared with 12 percent people of color in management nationwide*

-- One hundred percent of the Top 50 offer domestic-partner benefits for same-sex couples, compared with 53 percent of Fortune 500 companies

-- Seventy-four percent of the Top 50 include gender orientation in their nondiscrimination policies, compared with only 24 percent of the Fortune 500*

-- Top 50 companies spend 9.7 percent of their procurement budgets with minority- and women-owned suppliers, compared with just 2 percent nationally*

-- Ninety-six percent of the Top 50 companies link executive compensation to diversity goals

-- Ninety percent of Top 50 CEOs sign off on executive compensation tied to diversity, compared with 72 percent last year*

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit, group practice program headquartered in Oakland, Calif. Kaiser Permanente serves more than 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Today it encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 156,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 13,000 physicians representing all specialties. http://www.kaiserpermanete.org/