Kaiser Permanente is committed to the health and well-being of our members, patients, employees, physicians and the communities we serve. This includes proper waste disposal and protecting the confidentiality of member and patient information. Hundreds of health care facilities across California provide care and support to millions of people each year and have well-established policies and procedures for disposing of the various types of waste that result. Masu.
Approximately six years ago, we became aware that, contrary to our strict policies and procedures, trash bins at some of our facilities’ landfills contained items that should have been disposed of differently. I did. Upon learning of this issue, we immediately completed a major audit of our facility’s waste streams and established mandatory and ongoing training to address the results. All Kaiser Permanente staff and physicians in California undergo this mandatory annual training. We are also reinforcing long-standing environmental compliance measures by introducing specialized equipment, instructions and receptacles located closest to the point of waste generation to ensure that all types of waste are properly disposed of. , introduced more environmentally friendly products.
We take this issue extremely seriously and are working with the California Attorney General and county district attorneys to acknowledge and correct our track record that may not meet our standards regarding waste destined for landfills. I take full responsibility for doing so. We spend a lot of time identifying and filling gaps to strengthen regulated waste treatment programs, and we not only meet the monitoring and reporting requirements of this settlement, but we also We are confident in our ability to comply with the numerous requirements that apply. It’s the result of caring for millions of Californians.
To address this issue, Kaiser Permanente has developed a three-step approach:
- Assess hospitals, clinic buildings, and other facilities to determine the types of waste they generate and provide appropriate containers to help staff and physicians dispose of waste in the appropriate containers as easily and conveniently as possible. To do.
- Patrols workplaces to observe disposal techniques and provide just-in-time training to ensure good practices are followed.
- Training on proper waste disposal processes that all California employees and physicians must attend annually
We are not aware of any body parts being discovered at any point during this investigation. In some cases, what appeared to be small amounts of tissue debris was isolated.
