Sidney R. Garfield
Encyclopedia
Sidney R. Garfield . A medical doctor (University of Iowa College of Medicine, 1928; now called the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine ) who co-founded the Kaiser Permanente
healthcare system with businessman Henry J. Kaiser
, thus a pioneer of health maintenance organizations.
In 1933, Garfield opened his "Contractor's General Hospital" in the Mojave Desert
, east of Los Angeles
. This hospital was set up to provide medical care for the 5,000 workers on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's aqueduct
, which was designed to bring Colorado river water to Los Angeles.
The hospital started as fee-for-service, but insurance companies were slow to pay, and non-payment was also a problem. Garfield made an arrangement with Industrial Indemnity Exchange, the largest insurer on the Colorado River Aqueduct project. The agreement with the insurance company was structured as a "prepayment" to the hospital -- a nickel a day per worker. The new "prepaid" financing plan was an immediate success.
Garfield was able to provide medical and hospital care for the workers for industrial accidents. The system worked so well, in fact, that Garfield decided to offer total medical care for the workers, for all of their needs, for an additional nickel a day from the workers themselves. About 95% signed up.
The Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital for the Kaiser Shipyards, financed by the U.S. Maritime Commission, opened on August 10, 1942. It was sponsored by Henry J. Kaiser's Permanente Foundation, and Sidney Garfield was the Medical Director. The Field Hospital served as the mid-level component of a three-tier medical care system that also included six well-equipped First Aid Stations at the individual shipyards, and the main Permanente Hospital in Oakland, where the most critical cases were treated. Together, these facilities served the employees of the Kaiser shipyards who had signed up for the Permanente Health Plan (commonly referred to as the "Kaiser Plan"), one of the country's first voluntary pre-paid medical plans, and a direct precursor to the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) defined by the federal HMO Act of 1973.
By August 1944, 92.2 percent of all Richmond shipyard employees had joined the plan, the first voluntary group plan in the country to feature group medical practice, prepayment and substantial medical facilities on such a large scale.
After the war ended, the Health Plan was expanded to include workers' families. By 1990, Kaiser Permanente was the country's largest nonprofit HMO.
In part due to wartime materials rationing, Garfield's original Field Hospital was a single-story wood frame structure designed in a simple modernist mode. Intended for use primarily as an emergency facility, it opened with only 10 beds. Later additions increased its capacity to 160 beds by 1944. The Field Hospital operated as a Kaiser Permanente hospital until closing in 1995.
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield...
healthcare system with businessman Henry J. Kaiser
Henry J. Kaiser
Henry John Kaiser was an American industrialist who became known as the father of modern American shipbuilding. He established the Kaiser Shipyard which built Liberty ships during World War II, after which he formed Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel. Kaiser organized Kaiser Permanente health care...
, thus a pioneer of health maintenance organizations.
In 1933, Garfield opened his "Contractor's General Hospital" in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
, east of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. This hospital was set up to provide medical care for the 5,000 workers on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's aqueduct
Colorado River Aqueduct
The Colorado River Aqueduct, or CRA, is a water conveyance in Southern California in the United States, operated by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California . The aqueduct impounds water from the Colorado River at Lake Havasu on the California-Arizona border west across the Mojave...
, which was designed to bring Colorado river water to Los Angeles.
The hospital started as fee-for-service, but insurance companies were slow to pay, and non-payment was also a problem. Garfield made an arrangement with Industrial Indemnity Exchange, the largest insurer on the Colorado River Aqueduct project. The agreement with the insurance company was structured as a "prepayment" to the hospital -- a nickel a day per worker. The new "prepaid" financing plan was an immediate success.
Garfield was able to provide medical and hospital care for the workers for industrial accidents. The system worked so well, in fact, that Garfield decided to offer total medical care for the workers, for all of their needs, for an additional nickel a day from the workers themselves. About 95% signed up.
The Kaiser Richmond Field Hospital for the Kaiser Shipyards, financed by the U.S. Maritime Commission, opened on August 10, 1942. It was sponsored by Henry J. Kaiser's Permanente Foundation, and Sidney Garfield was the Medical Director. The Field Hospital served as the mid-level component of a three-tier medical care system that also included six well-equipped First Aid Stations at the individual shipyards, and the main Permanente Hospital in Oakland, where the most critical cases were treated. Together, these facilities served the employees of the Kaiser shipyards who had signed up for the Permanente Health Plan (commonly referred to as the "Kaiser Plan"), one of the country's first voluntary pre-paid medical plans, and a direct precursor to the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) defined by the federal HMO Act of 1973.
By August 1944, 92.2 percent of all Richmond shipyard employees had joined the plan, the first voluntary group plan in the country to feature group medical practice, prepayment and substantial medical facilities on such a large scale.
After the war ended, the Health Plan was expanded to include workers' families. By 1990, Kaiser Permanente was the country's largest nonprofit HMO.
In part due to wartime materials rationing, Garfield's original Field Hospital was a single-story wood frame structure designed in a simple modernist mode. Intended for use primarily as an emergency facility, it opened with only 10 beds. Later additions increased its capacity to 160 beds by 1944. The Field Hospital operated as a Kaiser Permanente hospital until closing in 1995.