Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has been busy over the past several months, rolling out new care models, elevating leadership, and addressing legal, labor and financial challenges across its national footprint.
Here are eight things that Kaiser Permanente has done since Oct. 1, as reported by Becker’s healthcare:
1. In January, Habitat Health, launched in 2024 by Kaiser and healthcare investment firm Town Hall Ventures, opened a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly center in Compton, Calif. Habitat Health offers participants a fully integrated healthcare model that includes primary and specialty care, prescriptions, social activities, transportation and home care all under one roof.
2. Kaiser Permanente Southern California Pathology implemented a new enterprise digital pathology platform in December, according to Sony Wirio, MD, the health system’s regional chief of pathology. Dr. Wirio wrote in a LinkedIn post that the organization transitioned to Sectra Digital Pathology, deploying 10 Leica DX450 scanners across the region.
3. Kaiser named Carrie Owen Plietz as group senior vice president and COO of care delivery. In this newly created role, Ms. Owen Plietz will oversee hospital operations, pharmacy services, nursing, continuum of care, and consumer and patient experience across all Kaiser Permanente markets.
4. In December, Kaiser agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for $46 million over claims it shared patient data with tech companies. Several patients sued the health system in 2023, asserting that its consumer-behavior tracking technologies transmitted their personal and health information to companies including Adobe, Google and Twitter without the individuals’ consent. A judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted preliminary approval of the proposed settlement, which could go as high as $47.5 million, Dec. 1.
5. Kaiser recently completed one of the largest EHR consolidations in healthcare history, migrating about 40 million patient records. In early 2025, the 40-hospital system merged 12 instances of its Epic EHR into two: in its Northern California and Southern California markets. In each case, the health system transferred roughly 20 million patient records with less than three hours of downtime and no canceled appointments or delayed procedures. Neil Cowles, chief information and technology officer of Kaiser Permanente, joined Becker’s In November to discuss the details of the consolidation.
6. In a Nov. 7 financial statement, Kaiser Permanente reported they were “back in the black,” with an operating income of $218 million (0.7% operating margin) in the third quarter of 2025, up from an operating loss of $608 million (-2.1%) margin during the same period last year. Additionally, the system reported operating revenue of $31.8 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $29 billion during the same period last year. Kaiser Executive Vice President and CFO Kathy Lancaster said that like others in healthcare, the system faces “inflation, rising care acuity, high pharmaceutical costs and increasing labor expenses,” which continues to narrow its operating margin.
7. Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers across multiple states ended their planned five-day strike Oct. 19, union leaders and the health system said in statements shared with Becker’s. Kaiser said it was resuming normal operations and welcoming back the approximately 30,000 Alliance of Health Care Unions-represented employees who were returning from the strike.
8. In October, Kaiser laid off 216 workers in California, primarily positions in IT and food services, according to a statement from the organization shared with Becker’s. The layoffs occurred across more than a dozen locations in San Mateo, San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, Contra Costa and Alameda counties, according to a WARN Act notice Kaiser filed with the state’s Employment Development Department.
