CAREER OPPORTUNITY IN NURSING : 06/09/23

Friday, June 9, 2023

Housing help brings stability to patients’ lives

With medical-legal partnerships, we’re helping prevent evictions. Patients with safe places to call home can more easily focus on their basic health needs.

Medical-legal partnerships help families facing a housing crisis in order to prevent evictions and homelessness.

It can be overwhelming to care for twins. What’s even harder? Twins with special needs.

Ms. Smith (who asked to use her last name only to protect her privacy) is a Kaiser Permanente member and single parent of twins born with health and developmental issues. She struggled to care for her sons and pay for housing.

Unable to work outside the home, Smith got by with the support of relatives. When the pandemic hit, she was able to keep her Sacramento, California, apartment with help from the city’s COVID-19 relief emergency rental assistance program.

As pandemic-era funding ran out, Smith’s rental assistance stopped. She found herself in a cycle of paying back rent and late fees. Eventually, Smith received a final eviction notice.

“I had 3 days to pay a quarter of the rent and needed to go down to the courthouse to file. But I didn’t have finances to pay or gas to even get there,” said Smith.

Legal aid is pivotal to avoiding eviction

Smith’s medical social worker referred her to Legal Services of Northern California for assistance.

Legal Services of Northern California is one of a number of legal aid organizations that Kaiser Permanente partners with to provide legal services to patients in need. Members of our care teams are trained in spotting legal issues that could potentially impact a patient’s health. This especially includes housing-related legal concerns, such as evictions. When an issue is identified, the patients get a referral and can receive legal help at no cost.

“Our medical-legal partnerships are crucial in ensuring that patients who are most in need of housing stability can access legal resources,” said Stephanie Ledesma, vice president of community health for Kaiser Permanente.

In Smith’s case, Legal Services of Northern California contacted the courthouse on her behalf and filed the necessary paperwork to avoid her immediate eviction. The firm settled an agreement with her landlord’s lawyer that helped Smith stay in her home and granted her time to catch up on rent.

Kaiser Permanente has similar medical-legal partnerships in Baltimore; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento; Vallejo, California; and on Oahu, Hawaii. We plan to launch additional partnerships in Denver and Los Angeles later in 2023.

Our aim with the partnerships is to support our patients’ total health. Without a safe place to call home, it’s nearly impossible to focus on basic health and medical needs. We rolled out our medical-legal partnership initiative in 2021, in collaboration with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership and HealthBegins.

“By improving access to community legal aid, we are preventing homelessness. And we are eliminating the physical and mental health consequences that eviction can have on health,” said Ledesma.

Supporting social needs

In addition to fighting evictions, the medical-legal partnership team coordinates to support patients with a variety of other social needs.

Once Smith was able to fight her eviction, Legal Services of Northern California walked her through the steps to reapply for rental assistance under the city’s new regulations. Her medical social worker then turned her attention to helping Smith apply for in-home supportive services for her sons. Her sons now receive speech and language therapy at home.

“I’m so grateful to have a stable home and medical care for my kids,” said Smith. “I’m very appreciative of the legal help for me when it comes to housing. Regardless of anyone’s income, there are resources out there for people."

Get the help you need

We’re here to support you however we can. If you or someone you know needs help with essentials like food or housing, or needs assistance paying bills, start your search at kp.org/communityresources or call 1-800-260-7445 (TTY 711), Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. local time.

Eviction, equity, and health

Nearly 6 out of 100 renting households were threatened with eviction at least once during 2018, according to the Eviction Lab. In a typical year between 2000 and 2018, landlords filed 3.6 million eviction cases.

Eviction filings are now on the rise again as pandemic-era rental assistance funds and restrictions on evictions sunset. Black tenants — especially Black women — face a greater threat of eviction due to decades of inequalities in the housing system. Black women are more than twice as likely to have evictions filed against them as white people.

High blood pressure, depression, anxiety, and poor health are some of the negative effects associated with evictions.

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Community healthHomelessnessEquity

Hospital patients who are homeless connected to housing

A Kaiser Permanente program connects patients experiencing homelessness to permanent housing and help for life’s problems.

Rosa Williams relaxes in her new 1-bedroom apartment in Sacramento, California, which she rented with help from Kaiser Permanente’s Project Home.

Becoming homeless and living in her car while trying to manage stage 3 kidney disease and diabetes was not something that Rosa Williams of Sacramento, California, thought could ever happen to her.

“I never thought I would be in that position,” the 60-year-old Williams said, her voice breaking as she recounted her move from Las Vegas to Sacramento, which she thought would be seamless and easy. “And the way people treated me? I get really emotional just thinking about it.”

Today, thanks to a new $2 million Kaiser Permanente program in the Sacramento area called Project Home, Williams has settled into a cozy 1-bedroom apartment in a senior living community.

Under the program, Kaiser Permanente care teams identify people in its Sacramento County emergency departments who are experiencing homelessness. They are screened and referred to the nonprofit Sacramento Covered, which operates Project Home specifically for Kaiser Permanente to address housing, social services, and medical care coordination.

“I went from living with my son to a hotel, and then I ran out of money and got very sick,” said Williams. “Just imagine me living in a car and being really sick with all my medications. It was horrible.”

Flexible funding for housing and services

A social worker in the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center Emergency Department where Williams was seen referred her to Project Home. Flexible funding that Kaiser Permanente provides through the program helps people pay for credit checks, application fees, back rent, security deposits, and first and last month’s rent to obtain housing — barriers that could otherwise prevent them from finding a stable home.

“Luis from Project Home came to the parking lot where I was living in my car, evaluated me, and the next day put me in a hotel room,” said Williams. “Then he helped me get the place I am in now. I want people to know how much this program helps. They did such a great job.”

Project Home in 3 West Coast cities

The partnership with Sacramento Covered is part of a larger, $5.7 million Kaiser Permanente effort in Sacramento, Los Angeles, and the Salem, Oregon, area to offer housing services to people experiencing homelessness who are frequent patients in its emergency departments.

Since it started in 2022, the program has enrolled 97 people and placed 46 in housing across all 3 cities, according to Vanessa Davis, Housing for Health program lead at Kaiser Permanente.

“Kaiser Permanente believes that housing is health and a secure and stable place to live is key to a person’s ability to thrive,” said Davis. “We are getting medically vulnerable people connected to vital housing and social supports.”

Individual housing needs

Project Home Sacramento Project Manager Chris Baker said the assistance caters to the individual’s specific needs.

“We always try to make sure we set up people in a living situation that makes sense for them,” said Baker. “Some of it will be permanent, supportive housing with a case manager and some will be independent living, usually with Section 8 rental vouchers.”

Having medical care teams at Kaiser Permanente collaborate with housing and social service providers is critical for patients with complex and intertwined medical and social needs, added Davis.

“The care team knows a patient’s health needs and where they are staying, and that improves outreach and the ability to identify suitable housing options,” she said.

Brandon Pace, chief operating officer of Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center, said the goal is to use a “housing first” approach to get people in a home right away, then refer them to social services, mental health, or substance abuse services.

“Part of our mission is to improve the health of the communities we serve,” said Pace. “We feel an obligation to help, so people don’t need emergency room services as often. And if we don’t also address their housing needs, their medical conditions will deteriorate.”

For Rosa Williams, the help she received from her case managers at Project Home made all the difference in the world.

“They made me believe in people again.”

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Community healthNews and announcementsGrantsHomelessness

Grant encourages long-running therapist internship program

Instituto Familiar de la Raza’s Clinical Internship Program prepares mental health professionals to best serve San Francisco’s Latino population.

Left to right, Julio Gonzales, Gloria Romero, and Alexandra Capulong at IFR in San Francisco’s Mission District.

While many speak about building the pipeline of future therapists to meet California’s growing need for mental health services, Instituto Familiar de la Raza (IFR) is walking the talk.

The nonprofit based in San Francisco’s Mission District has been providing mental health and social services to San Francisco County residents for 46 years — and since 1985 has maintained an internship for master’s and PhD candidates who learn from its clinical advisors at the same time they provide Spanish bilingual or monolingual mental health care to children, adults, seniors, couples, families, and the LBGTQ community.

Currently serving around 6,000 San Franciscans a year, the organization employs 120 bilingual, bicultural staff members.

Alexandra Capulong, PsyD, is a mental health specialist at IFR’s La Clínica’s de la Raza who first came to the organization as an intern in 2020 — at the worst of the pandemic.

“From the moment I walked through the doors, I felt a strong sense of community and connection,” she said. “I had applied to Instituto because of the population they serve and because I wanted to be able to give back to my community, particularly to assist monolingual Spanish speakers. I came back after I finished my final internship and graduated because of this sense of community and unity.”

Coming to intern; staying for good

IFR recently received a $75,000 grant from a Kaiser Permanente fund at the East Bay Community Foundation to help increase the clinical trainees’ stipends, provide resources for more clinician supervision, and support culturally based trainings in various modalities and venues.

“We’re pleased to provide financial support for Instituto to increase the number of therapists trained to meet the needs of our diverse communities,” said Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente Northern California vice president for External and Community Affairs.

“Any type of assistance really goes a long way,” said Julio Gonzales, La Clínica’s program director. “This grant is hugely appreciated for going toward helping us to maintain this important program.”

The interns come from institutions including San Francisco State University, U.C. Berkeley, and The Wright Institute for 2 semesters of classes and supervised on-the-job training. Competition is steep to intern at IFR.

While many go on to work for counties, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), and Kaiser Permanente, others have stayed at IFR for their entire careers in order to live the promise of an organization focusing on culturally sensitive health care.

One previous executive director began at IFR as a 19-year-old intern and retired after 38 years at the organization.

“We nourish and learn from our relationships with each other and our clients in order to be able to provide the accurate assistance,” said Gonzales, a former intern. “We have the cultural piece that not many other sites offer.”

Meeting a dire need

According to the Healthforce Center at U.C. San Francisco, if current trends continue, California will have 41% fewer psychiatrists than needed and 11% fewer psychologists, licensed marriage and family therapists, professional clinical counselors, and clinical social workers than needed by as soon as 2028.

With 8 to 11 behavioral health interns a year, IFR has trained and supported hundreds over its history — with many more planned for the future.

The 2020 pandemic drove home the importance of the organization, according to its executive director, Gloria Romero.

She said that the SFDPH looked to IFR’s institutional knowledge during the pandemic, since it served San Franciscans during another, earlier public health crisis — the AIDS epidemic.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a rise in need among our existing clients, as well as new families and community members we hadn’t served before,” Romero said. “The need was just so great: grief, stress, depression, and isolation. As a result, we diversified some of our offerings, moved some to online, and even pivoted to provide some basic support, including food and diapers.”

For Capulong, serving that need is not just a job — and IFR is not just an employer.

“I have learned and continue to learn about even my own culture and the culture of other Hispanic individuals, as well as the Latine, Chicane, and Indigenous communities,” Capulong said. “I have had the chance to experience rituals and traditions that my family has not practiced, and it has been such a wonderful experience.”

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Mental Health Training Program recruiting now

Kaiser Permanente encourages employees and the public to apply for a training program culminating in a rewarding career in behavioral health.

To help strengthen and diversify the mental health care workforce and meet a growing demand for mental health care, Kaiser Permanente Northern California is currently recruiting for its Mental Health Training Program (MHTP).

The program provides comprehensive clinical training in adult and child behavioral health, chemical dependency treatment, and multiple specialty training tracks in evidence-based care to more than 250 doctoral and master’s level trainees in 21 Northern California medical centers. The program encourages applicants from a broad range of backgrounds and experiences.

Helen Chan, PsyD, has been in the Mental Health Training Program for 3 years: as a practicum student, predoctoral intern, and now as a post-doctoral trainee. She decided to become a licensed clinical psychologist to help those struggling with autism, like her 14-year-old son.

“I really want to work with other families dealing with autism to help them mitigate some of the challenges,” she said.

Woman's face

Helen Chan, PsyD

Kaiser Permanente Northern California Community Health is supporting the Mental Health Training Program as part of an ongoing commitment to expand the mental health workforce and increase diversity and representation.

MHTP trainees are taught clinical skills that support cutting-edge treatment protocols and follow evidence-based guidelines. They receive supervised training needed to graduate and become licensed clinical psychologists and therapists, which are in high demand throughout the United States.

They also provide mental health education, mentoring, and resources to local schools and community organizations.

Recruiting for trainees

The program is currently recruiting doctoral practicum, internship, and postdoctoral trainees, as well as pre master’s and post master’s trainees on a rolling basis. (Learn about each program.)

“Kaiser Permanente is committed to growing the mental health workforce, and programs like this one help us provide the experience and training needed in a supportive environment,” said Jennifer Thom, PhD, assistant regional director of the MHTP.

Asher Trahan, PsyD, is currently completing his postdoctoral residency training in clinical psychology in the program.

A veteran of the U.S. Airforce, part of his training includes providing individual therapy to those dealing with depression or other mental health diagnoses at Kaiser Permanente Vallejo.

“This is a great team to be a part of,” he said. “They look out for each other, and care for each other.”

Learn more about what the MHTP offers as well as how to apply.

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News and announcementsMental healthCareer and learning

Metastasizing cancer is no match for coordinated care

Kaiser Permanente member Jessica Wade’s clinicians saw her through her cancer diagnosis, treatment, and on to follow-up care.

In 2013, Kaiser Permanente member Jessica Wade met with her dermatologist to discuss a couple of moles that seemed odd to her. As it turned out, both were melanoma. “I had surgery, they got clear margins, my PET scan was clear, and so life went on,” said Wade.

Then, last year, Wade tested positive for COVID-19 and underwent a CT scan to check for pneumonia. Though her lungs were clear for pneumonia, the scan came back showing a worrying nodule. Concerned it could be related to her previous diagnoses of melanoma, Wade was referred to Brian Rezvani, MD, a thoracic surgeon at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento.

“It was impressive to me that something from 9 years ago was still relevant in my medical record for them to consider,” said Wade. “I honestly had no idea that melanoma in my lung was even possible. Dr. Rezvani explained everything to me and gave me some options to consider. I really appreciated being a part of the decision-making for my care.”

Treatments to fight metastasized cancer

After surgery, it was confirmed that Wade’s melanoma had metastasized to her lungs and she was referred to Frank Hsieh, MD, an oncologist at the Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center, a nationally certified Comprehensive Community Cancer Program, along with the Sacramento and South Sacramento medical centers.

“Melanoma is a very serious skin cancer. It has a tendency to spread to other parts of the body even years after the initial diagnosis,” explained Dr. Hsieh. “Unfortunately, it came back in her lungs.”

Wade’s care involved using the latest immunotherapy treatments, which not only resulted in a better outcome, but reduced nausea, allowed Wade to stay active, and even enabled her to keep her hair during treatment.

“Before the era of immunotherapy, the prognosis for melanoma — once it has spread — was poor,” said Dr. Hsieh.

Wade’s prognosis looks very positive, but due to her high risk she continues to be closely followed by Bianca Lemos, MD, her dermatologist at Kaiser Permanente Sacramento. Thanks to her entire Kaiser Permanente care team, Wade has been able to get back to long distance running and recently completed a 50k trail run in under 7.5 hours.

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News and Info CategoryNews and announcementsCare experienceHealth and wellnessKaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Centersee more...

Lung cancer surprises a population

Non-smoking Asian American women have significantly high lung cancer rates.

Lung cancer is a devastating disease that takes the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals each year. While smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer, anyone can develop the disease, including non-smokers. Certain populations such as Asian Americans face a significantly high risk of developing lung cancer.

The Association of Community Cancer Centers reports that Southeast Asians are 18% more likely to develop lung cancer than white Americans. Among Asian subgroups, Vietnamese individuals have the highest rate of lung cancer, while Chinese individuals have the highest rates of lung cancer death.

Asian women appear to be at particularly high risk for lung cancer compared to women from other ethnicities. Research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that non-smoking Asian American women have generally much higher rates of lung cancer compared to non-smoking, non-Hispanic white women.

Barbara: A cancer survivor

Lung cancer survivor Barbara Kitagawa

Kaiser Permanente member Barbara Kitagawa, 70, of El Cerrito is one of the non-smokers who received a stage two lung cancer diagnosis. It was right before Thanksgiving 2012.

“It began with a dull, persistent pain in the lower right side below my lung,” said Kitagawa, who is of Japanese descent. “My primary care physician referred me to pulmonologist Peter Le.”

Dr. Le said that there was a shadow on Kitagawa’s CAT scan of her right lung, prompting a bronchoscopy in which a thin tube was used to look at the airways. Despite the case being inconclusive, Dr. Le said, “Something wasn’t right, so I pushed for a biopsy, which then showed lung cancer. Immediate surgery was then performed by our top-notch thoracic surgery department.”

Kitagawa was surprised — and yet not. She had had 2 female non-smoking family members of Chinese descent diagnosed with lung cancer. Both first presented with asthma. One died within a week of diagnosis.

In Kitagawa’s case, surgery followed by chemotherapy ending in April 2013 headed off the cancer. (Her original pain was from one end of the lung hitting a nerve.) A decade later, she credits Dr. Le for his tenacity in the face of every test coming back negative.

Being on the offensive

“This case illustrates the importance of being on the offensive end of looking after one’s health,” Dr. Le said. “If you have a family history or you are in a demographic skewed to a specific form of cancer, speak with your physician. And if you are using tobacco products, Kaiser Permanente has a robust tobacco cessation program.”

Lung cancer starts when abnormal cells grow out of control in the lungs and form tumors. Lung cancer can develop anywhere in the lungs, affect any part of the respiratory system, and can even spread to other organs. It can also start and progress without causing any noticeable symptoms, especially in the early stages. However, when caught early, lung cancer can be treatable — and even cured.

Common symptoms of lung cancer may include coughing, wheezing, fatigue, chest pain, coughing up blood, and unintentional weight loss. Early stage lung cancer may present with no symptoms at all.

Kitagawa said she feels it’s urgent to get this message out to Asian American women. “In our culture, women are sometimes not as vocal in expressing their needs, including medical. Additionally, if English is a second language, it’s important that a woman’s information not be lost in translation to care providers.”

Learn about lung cancer screening and how it can save lives. If you’re a smoker, Kaiser Permanente offers quit-smoking tools to help you personalize a plan to kick your smoking habit.

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Health and wellnessNews and announcementsLung cancerAsian

Mental Health Scholars Academy graduates first class

The program supporting and growing future behavioral health professionals has just launched its first group of newly degreed therapists dedicated to helping others.

Leiza Santos knew she was taking on a lot by enrolling in Kaiser Permanente’s Mental Health Scholars Academy (MHSA) during the pandemic while working her administrative job at the organization.

A mother of 2 young children, Santos would need all of her energy and multi-tasking abilities to finish the 3-year program that supports the training of new mental health professionals committed to working for Kaiser Permanente in California. But with a bachelor’s degree already in psychology, she was well-positioned to become a therapist, which she calls “a passion.”

Half-way through her program, Santos added to her family. “With the support from my school and Kaiser Permanente, I was able to continue without disrupting my graduation timeline,” she said of juggling a newborn.

Santos credits many for her accomplishment, including the program for its 75% tuition assistance, enthusiastic co-workers, and managers flexible with her work schedule.

“I would encourage anyone who qualifies to apply and pursue this amazing path to further a career in mental health,” Santos said. “I would have never thought of challenging myself this much at this point in my life, but it was well worth it and I’m excited for the journey ahead.”

Building the pipeline

The statewide program launched in 2019 to create a career pipeline for new mental health professionals and increase diversity and representation in the mental health workforce. Santos and classmates including Janelle Hernandez are the Northern California MHSA’s first graduates.

Both earned their master’s degrees in counseling psychology-concentration in marriage and family therapy from the University of San Francisco.

“As soon as I found out information about the MHSA program, I jumped on the opportunity to pursue my dream to become a therapist,” said Hernandez, a Kaiser Permanente recreational therapist for 6 years who is motivated to help the Latinx population.

“The program brings additional diversity into California’s mental health workforce with over 75% of participants identifying as people of color and many bilingual,” said Lauren Sevey, MHSA’s lead consultant.

Over the past 3 years, each graduate has clocked between 300 and 500 hours of clinical training at practicums within the Northern California Region. The next step is for the post master’s requirement of 3,000 supervised hours for licensure — yet another hurdle that is being smoothed with help from Kaiser Permanente.

Streamlining the process

“We are partnering with Talent Acquisition to streamline the process of connecting MHSA graduates with open associate positions and developing new supports to help them with resume and interview preparation, as well as navigating the Kaiser Permanente behavioral health hiring process,” added Dan Gizzo, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the program’s director.

MHSA participants Lisa Goettsch graduated in February with her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Alliant International University. She worked a decade as a registered dental assistant at Kaiser Permanente, where she supported a maxillofacial pain physician in providing care to patients suffering from chronic facial pain.

“Through this work, I found those coping with chronic pain may also be working through anxiety and other mental health challenges,” she said. “I became eager to learn at a higher level how to best support those with their mental health.”

With her education completed, Goettsch can see her new career in sight. Of the MHSA, she said, “Every person in my cohort is so glad they decided to participate in the program.”

Are you a Kaiser Permanente employee in California interested in applying to the MHSA? Applications open on September 7. Learn more.

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Our peopleNews and announcementsMental healthCareer and learning

Fighting alongside you, for you

Cancer affects almost all of us at some point in our lives. Half of men and one-third of women will get cancer during their lifetimes.1 Others may support a loved one fighting the disease. The hopeful news is that about 44% of cancers are preventable.2

Kaiser Permanente is committed to being a leader in cancer prevention and screenings. For example, human papillomavirus (HPV)–related cancers, such as cervical cancer, account for several common cancer types worldwide. Kaiser Permanente has cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination rates that are in the top 5% nationwide.3 We also have 2 of the top 6 highest-performing commercial plans in the nation for breast cancer screening.4 Our members are 20% less likely to die early from cancer compared to nonmembers in the same communities.5

From detection to recovery, Kaiser Permanente doctors, nurses, and specialists work together to give you high-quality care. No matter where you are on your care journey, we’ll be there to support all that is you.

Join a community ready to fight cancer and thrive during a free virtual event

Fighting Cancer with Kaiser Permanente is a yearly, no-cost virtual event. It’s a chance to learn about our total health approach to preventing and treating cancer. We hope everyone affected by cancer will unite for this event. Register today and continue fighting.

Trauma surgeon, nonprofit break cycle of gun violence

https://mykp.kp.org/en/news/ncal/trauma-surgeon-nonprofit-break-cycle-of-gun-violence.html

Trauma surgeon, nonprofit break cycle of gun violence

A Kaiser Permanente Northern California grant aids intervention when violence brings people to the hospital.

When 27-year-old Dion Cavin arrives at the hospital bedside of a person who has been shot, stabbed, or seriously wounded, he knows he’s got a small window to connect with the victim and break the cycle of community violence.

“I go within a day of surgery, and if the victim is unable to speak, I might be talking to a parent, a wife, or a grandmother,” said Cavin, an intervention specialist with the Sacramento Violence Intervention Program, which has received community health grants from Kaiser Permanente since 2010. “I try to make them feel comfortable so they can be vulnerable. I ask them, ‘Where’s your head space at right now?’”

Cavin said his mission in talking to victims of violence who are treated at the Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center and one other area hospital is not to lecture or warn that next time they might not survive. Rather, he offers free wraparound counseling, social, and medical services that program leaders say are key in breaking the cycle of violence on the streets.

“The truth is, a lot of our clients are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and a lot of our victims are cases of mistaken identity,” said Cavin. “That said, most people are grateful for the help we offer and want to make a life change right then and there.”

Dr. Maya Leggett, a trauma surgeon at Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center, started the intervention program in 2010.

The intervention program offers a variety of services for 6 to 12 months, including rides to doctor’s appointments, help navigating health care, psychological counseling, referrals to parenting groups, and help applying for state money for victims of violent crime.

The organization served 150 victims last year, nearly double the previous year’s number due to rising crime rates.

Kaiser Permanente has supported the Sacramento Violence Intervention Program, part of WellSpace Health, for 13 years with about $11 million in grants.

“We know timing is critical right after someone becomes a victim of violence,” said Susan Little, program manager. “That’s when they are open to new information and before they start having recurring thoughts that could include retaliation.”

Program nearly eliminates reinjury

The work over the last 13 years has resulted in a less than 1% re-injury rate, said Maya Leggett, MD, a Kaiser Permanente South Sacramento Medical Center trauma surgeon who started the program at the medical center and who operates on gunshot victims and victims of all kinds of violence.

“Lowering the rate of re-injury was the idea of the program from the get-go,” said Dr. Leggett. “If you’ve been hospitalized after being shot or stabbed a first time, and it happens again, your rate of death goes up to 30%. I want these people not just to survive, but to live and to have the tools for success that they might not have had before.”

Over the past 5 years, Kaiser Permanente has made grants of over $2.4 million to organizations working to end retaliatory and cyclical gun violence in Northern California, including to Advance Peace, California Partnership for Safe Communities, Youth ALIVE!, Hope and Heal Fund, and Movement 4Life.

“Gun violence is ubiquitous in the United States, but it’s preventable,” said Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente Northern California vice president for External and Community Affairs. “The organizations we support use evidence-based models to decrease trauma and death plaguing too many of our communities.”

The trauma-informed care approach of the program that Dr. Leggett helped start, in which hospital clinicians approach victims of violence without personal bias in order to provide better, more empathetic care, has not only helped the victims, but has had an unintended yet positive effect on the medical providers themselves.

“Learning to understand the humanitarian component of caring for these victims has really changed how people in the trauma department see the patients who come in,” said Dr. Leggett. “We’ve all gained better understanding of and empathy for the victims of violence who we see here.”

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Community healthNews and announcementsGrantsTrauma and injuriesResilience

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