Short answers, pulled from the story.
Kaiser Permanente opened its first hospital on the 2nd of May 1933 in the town of Desert Center to serve construction workers building the Colorado River Aqueduct. Sidney Garfield secured a contract with Industrial Indemnity to care for five thousand laborers at this new facility.
Sidney Garfield initiated the concept while working with Henry Kaiser during the Grand Coulee Dam project starting in March 1938. The formal structure known as Kaiser Permanente emerged from their collaboration after Edgar Kaiser persuaded Garfield to reproduce his earlier work model in Washington state.
As of 2024 Kaiser Permanente serves eight states including California Colorado Georgia Hawaii Maryland Oregon Virginia and Washington plus the District of Columbia. The organization operates through eight regions comprising one parent and six subordinate health plan entities along with nine separate affiliated medical groups.
From October 4 to 7 2023 more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike regarding staffing shortages and wage concerns. A tentative agreement reached on the 13th of October 2023 set minimum hourly wages at $25 in California and provided a 21% wage increase over four years.
Kaiser Permanente announced its plan to start a medical school in December 2015 and welcomed its inaugural class in June 2020. Mark Schuster was named Founding Dean and CEO in 2017 and the school received full LCME accreditation in June 2024.