Broccoli People.

People ask me sometimes why I still care about Kaiser Permanente. It’s tough to put the reasons into words, except to say that I believe in what Kaiser Permanente stands for. Do you know what it’s like to believe in a country, and just not its current administration? It’s that way with me and George. Halvorson, that is. Mr. Halvorson is destroying the organization’s principles, credibility, and integrity. While that’s painful to watch, I know his time there is temporary, and I know the people of Kaiser Permanente can repair the terrible damage he’s done once he’s gone.

That being said, I spent a few minutes redoing the voiceover for the original Broccoli ad, and I’m calling it Broccoli People. I’m no Allison Janney, but I think one important change needed to be made to the ad. The original ad ends with “We are Kaiser Permanente, and we stand for health.” I’m adding one word: people. So, the new version, Broccoli People goes: “We are the People of Kaiser Permanente and we stand for health.”

It’s pretty obvious that George Halvorson believes in profit, not in health, and certainly not in Kaiser Permanente. But, the people of Kaiser Permanente, our doctors, our nurses, they do stand for health, and they do believe in the principles Kaiser Permanente was founded upon.

The San Francisco Business Times today called me a “persistent critic” who has become “no more enamored of the healthcare giant or its CEO.” I think, the distinction of the organization and its current administration is an important one, and a distinction the paper didn’t make. While I recognize and try to bring some light to the ongoing series of lapses in patient safety and care at Kaiser Permanente, I recognize those lapses are the result of George Halvorson’s mismanagement of the organization. Cutting costs, at all costs, is a dangerous proposition for a healthcare organization, especially one as integrated as Kaiser Permanente. (You can follow and discuss, more closely, the press reports of Kaiser Permanente’s lapses over at Kaiser Thrive Exposed.)

But back to the paper. The piece also seemed to imply that George Halvorson was safe in his job, a bit of a difference from a year ago when the paper mentioned that “Halvorson [has been] under fire…for a variety of financial and other challenges facing the Oakland-based organization.” This time around, the paper says that “there’s no sign that Halvorson is in trouble with…the board.” Considering he handpicked almost every member of the board, and considering the board seems to be about as concerned about governance as Halvorson’s last board, I’m not surprised. But, I wonder, has the San Francisco Business Times ever spoken with an independent Kaiser Permanente board member? Or, for that matter, has any newspaper in California spoken to any independent Kaiser Foundation Health Plan director?

The Business Times reprinted this bit from a recent entry: “Someday, soon, George Halvorson will be gone, and Kaiser Permanente will have member representatives on its board, it will have a physician as its chief executive…and it’ll have preventive medicine again as a core focus (not as an advertising gimmick).”

Someday, soon.