Kaiser Permanente Community Fund
The Kaiser Permanente Community Fund: Focusing on where health begins
The Kaiser Permanente Community Fund (KPCF) at Northwest Health Foundation was established in December 2004 to advance the health of the communities served by Kaiser Permanente Northwest.
The Fund is a partnership between Kaiser Permanente Northwest and the Northwest Heath Foundation and has awarded nearly $16 million in grants to organizations throughout the region.
We continue to be amazed by the innovation and dedication of our grantees as they work to improve the public’s health through factors as diverse as educational attainment, public safety, affordable housing, early childhood development and civic engagement, to name but a few. Addressing these factors – often referred to as social determinants of health – allow communities to focus on where health begins: where we live, learn, work and play.
A slide demonstrating the “upstream” approach to health taken by this fund can be found here:
In 2010, we engaged the Center for Community Health and Evaluation (CCHE) to assess the first five years of the Fund. We were particularly interested in learning where grantees were achieving the most impact, and how we could improve the Fund for the remainder of its ten-year life.
Many grantees and other community members contributed to this evaluation, which we are posting in its entirety below. We have also posted a four-page executive summary of the report, and a letter from KPCF Chair Sue Hennessy and NWHF President Thomas Aschenbrener explaining how we plan to use the report’s findings for the remaining life of the Fund.
Aschenbrener Hennessy letter
KPCF Evaluation Executive Summary
KPCF Evaluation Full Report
We sincerely thank everyone who contributed to this evaluation, and we look forward to working with new and existing partners to continue to create a healthier, more equitable region.