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Sidney R Garfield, MD, physician co-founder of Kaiser Permanente (KP), was a
pioneer whose ideas about prepaid health insurance, physicians practicing in groups, preventive health care, and medical services
under one roof were seen as radical in the 1930s. Through his dedication and efforts, as well as those of other early KP physician
leaders, these ideas became the blueprint for KP. As Paul de Kruif says in his book, Life Among the Doctors, Sidney
Garfield was "an innovator who has invented a democratic system of medical care."1 In an effort to continue Dr Garfield's legacy, in 1987, the Board of
Directors of KP established the Sidney R Garfield Memorial Fund (GMF) to encourage innovation and exploration of new models
of care that result in improved health care. The
GMF has operated since then under a very simple mandate--to fund research by KP employees and Permanente physicians that will
result in improved health care for both members and the community-at-large. Since its inception, the GMF has launched a variety
of initiatives and has provided about $25 million in funding to support these initiatives. For
more information, please visit: http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/summer06/fund.html
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