Kaiser Permanente Selects Pasadena Site for New School of Medicine

Kaiser Permanente, the largest integrated health care system in the nation, announced today the campus for its School of Medicine will be located in the city of Pasadena.

The site for the school, on land Kaiser Permanente already owns, is located in central Pasadena. The community was chosen because of its proximity to affordable housing, public transit and major freeways.

“The highly livable city of Pasadena is culturally and economically diverse, and is within a few miles of other major Kaiser Permanente facilities where much of the students’ education will take place,” Kaiser said in its annoucement.

The School of Medicine campus will be located adjacent to the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation.

“Kaiser Permanente provides care and coverage in communities across the United States, and Pasadena offers some important attributes that align with our vision for the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine,” said Bernard J. Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. “Pasadena is a vibrant and diverse community, and that diversity is essential to the model of medical education we want to establish as we prepare physicians for the practice of medicine in the 21st century.”

“We are designing a curriculum focused on providing high-quality, patient-centered care in both traditional and non-traditional settings, with an emphasis on collaboration and teamwork. Patient engagement, shared decision-making and evidence-based practice will be core to the curriculum design,” said Edward M. Ellison, MD, executive medical director of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, a national Permanente leader, and an executive sponsor for the School of Medicine. The Permanente Medical Groups have a mutually exclusive relationship with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plans to provide medical services to Kaiser Permanente members and members of the communities they serve.

“Selection of Pasadena as the future Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine location highlights the qualities that make our city so attractive to residents and employers, and to new businesses considering where to locate,” said Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek. “Pasadena is a dynamic place to live, work and play. It’s a growing center for innovation in technology, education, science and health, and already a destination for arts, culture and recreation. We look forward to working with Kaiser Permanente on their plans for this exciting project.”

Demographic changes in the U.S. population have created increasingly diverse communities. Physicians in the 21st century require cultural competency and fluency in order to meet the needs of their patients and to best serve their communities.

“We have an opportunity, even an obligation, to redesign medical education and be a catalyst for change,” noted Dr. Ellison. “New generations of physicians will take this knowledge wherever they choose to practice, inside or outside of Kaiser Permanente, and will be well-prepared to meet the total health needs of communities across the nation, including the necessary work of addressing health disparities.”

The Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine extends Kaiser Permanente’s longstanding commitment to medical education, including its highly regarded residency programs.

Groundbreaking is expected in 2017, and the school will welcome its first class of students in the fall of 2019.