“We know housing insecurity has a direct, negative impact on health—and the COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional burdens on those experiencing homelessness,” said Margaret Ferguson, MD, president and executive medical director of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group which provides care for the more than 620,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Colorado. “By providing additional support and resources, we can help suppress the spread of this pandemic in this at-risk community and help make all our communities healthier.”
This $1 million contribution, which is awaiting final approval from the Denver City Council, is the latest move by the state’s largest nonprofit, integrated health system to alleviate the epidemic of homelessness across the communities it serves. Recently, in partnership with National Health Care for the Homeless Council, Kaiser Permanente provided $60,000 to Colorado-based nonprofits providing healthcare services to people experiencing homelessness in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was part of a $1 million contribution and partnership with the NHCHC to increase capacity for preventing and treating cases of COVID-19 within the nation’s homeless population.
In November 2019, Kaiser Permanente collaborated with Community Solutions and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing to provide $500,000 in community health funding for 5 local communities to join Denver in a community cohort aimed at ending homelessness in their respective communities along the Front Range, Western Slope, and in the mountain communities.
