To note the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day, Kaiser Permanente clinicians and leaders offered their thoughts about the organization’s 30-year journey in caring for people with HIV.

“For a long time, all we had was compassion,” says Enid K. Eck, RN, MPH, Kaiser Permanente’s regional director, Infection Prevention and Control, Quality Risk Management.

“Nobody knew where it came from, how it was transmitted,” says Michael Allerton, MS, operations and policy practice leader, The Permanente Medical Group. Yet Kaiser Permanente nurses, physicians and other caregivers “rose to the occasion.”

The picture has changed significantly in the last three decades, with Kaiser Permanente now a leader in caring for patients with HIV and AIDS. In many ways, the organization has shaped and improved how clinicians nationwide care for people with HIV. Kaiser Permanente currently cares for more than 20,000 HIV-positive patients, and has provided treatment for 50,000 patients with HIV since the beginning of the pandemic.

Kaiser Permanente provides “comprehensive, coordinated care that is seamless for them,” notes Allerton. Everything is in one place, even the pharmacies, preventing unnecessary trips for treatment. “When you’re fighting a life-threatening disease, everything is work,” he adds.

A key tool in the early days was Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre program, which produced the interactive, live performance piece “Secrets,” aimed at educating young people about the growing epidemic. That program recently celebrated its 25th anniversary.

For more information about Kaiser Permanente’s contributions to the treatment of AIDS and HIV over the past 30 years, visit our history blog, at kp.org/history.

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