Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest nonprofit health plans in the United States. The agency serves nearly 8 million members. It operates Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Kaiser Permanente employs approximately 152,000 professionals. The agency serves the residents of California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Ohio, Oregon and Washington. Its research program is funded by Kaiser Permanente s community benefit division. Kaiser Permanente schedules more than 30 million outpatient visits and performs over 450,000 surgeries every year. The agency offers a range of community benefit programs that include care and health coverage plans for individuals, community health initiatives, health care safety net partnerships, and development and dissemination of health-related information.