Kaiser Permanente investing $1 billion, expanding West Coast presence with move into Washington
The move comes on the heels of its acquisition of Washington-based Group Health Cooperative on Feb. 1.
Kaiser Permanente is expanding its presence on the West Coast, spreading its integrated care coverage across Washington and investing about $1 billion over the next decade to modernize its facilities and technology.
With the addition of the new market, Kaiser Permanente now has a presence in 10 counties in Washington, with 25 primary care clinics in 17 cities, five urgent-care facilities and four outpatient surgery centers.
The move comes on the heels of its acquisition of Washington-based Group Health Cooperative on Feb. 1. That acquisition added more than 650,000 members to its network; it now serves more than 11 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia.
[Also: Kaiser Permanente fined $2.5 million over missing data tied to California Medicaid]
Much of the money Kaiser Permanente is investing is slated to go toward technology and innovation, largely online and mobile tools designed to personalize care and make it more convenient for consumers.
The $2.8 billion that Kaiser spent on capital improvements in 2016 went toward the opening of 12 new medical centers, two dental offices and an information technology campus in Atlanta, which the company expects will create 900 IT jobs by 2019.
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