Kaiser Permanente: "The Right Care at the Right Time"
Started in 1945 as a health care program for shipyard and steel mill workers, Kaiser Permanente has since grown into one of the largest unionized, nonprofit healthcare organizations in the country, including more than 40 union locals in its Labor Management Partnership.
Since its founding, the company has worked to provide highquality, affordable healthcare services to improve member and community health throughout California and other U.S. regions. Comprising 39 hospitals, nearly 730 medical offices and more than 300,000 employees, the Kaiser Permanente system has the infrastructure necessary to meet the health needs of the construction industry workforce while allowing employers to manage costs more effectively.
“Contractor members who are part of the Kaiser Permanente system can expect an integrated care experience where they will get the right care at the right time. This approach helps smooth out the complicated world of healthcare and speed up recovery,” said Mark Ciopyk, Senior Account Manager. “For example, it’s common practice for us to loop in different specialists and provide their input/recommendations in real-time. Doing this prevents unneeded follow-up appointments and additional charges and, most importantly, helps people get better faster.”
Providing employees with the healthcare they need not only means they’ll get better faster; it also helps them be more productive and efficient on the job when they’re healthy. And Kaiser Permanente offers a variety of resources to companies and their employees to help create — and strengthen — a culture of health at work. Stress management, exercise and mental health and wellness are just a few of the monthly topics for which they offer tools to support healthy behaviors.
Kaiser Permanente’s flexible health plans are designed for every business, no matter the size. Whether you’re a mom ’n’ pop shop with one location or have several offices throughout the state, Kaiser Permanente has the solutions you’re looking for with the flexibility your employees want.
“Healthcare has always been a fluid industry, but the pandemic acted as a catalyst for an array of changes, particularly in how people receive care on a general basis,” Ciopyk said. “The nation saw the vast majority of in-person care shift to a virtual/telehealth medium. Kaiser Permanente members were in a unique position to adapt easily, as this type of interaction with our hysicians has been utilized with high satisfaction for years.”
Ciopyk has been part of the Kaiser Permanente team for the past six years but has only recently begun connecting with Bay Area SMACNA members to discuss the value of partnering with a leader in healthcare.
“Kaiser Permanente has worked with SMACNA for far longer than I’ve been here. This connection is unbelievably important because it gives us the ability to provide support to the communities we serve through events like the SMACNA Scholarship Golf Tournament,” Ciopyk said. “This relationship also allows us to have more open conversations directly with those who receive care through us and hear feedback about what we do well and where we should continue to transform.”