When wildfires erupted within the Los Angeles space in January 2025, Jeremy Maggin, MD, needed to act rapidly.
As an emergency drugs doctor and regional doctor director of emergency preparedness for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, Dr. Maggin wanted to assist lead our emergency response. However first, he needed to defend his household.
His household house was in an space close to one of many wildfires.
“It was unhealthy timing — we had been simply beginning emergency operations,” Dr. Maggin mentioned. “However I knew I had to verify my household was protected first earlier than I might assist others.”
As soon as Dr. Maggin acquired his household to security, he turned his consideration to his job.
He was a part of a powerful effort at Kaiser Permanente to ensure that our members, workforce, and communities continued to get care throughout a troublesome time, even when our services and other people had been affected.
How we helped our impacted communities
Whereas individuals had been being evacuated, Kaiser Permanente acted rapidly. We supplied medical care and provides at evacuation facilities, joined companions to help the group, volunteered sources, and donated funds to organizations that offered direct aid to impacted communities and first responders.
- Wildfire Useful resource Hub — The Kaiser Permanente Walnut Heart turned a spot the place individuals might get assist. Working with the California Voluntary Organizations Activate in Disasters and the Emergency Community Los Angeles, greater than 2,400 households acquired long-term restoration case administration and monetary help. Over 20 nonprofit organizations arrange in Walnut Heart to offer monetary help, restoration sources, meals, disaster counseling, prescription glasses, air purifiers, and different provides.
- The Pasadena Conference Heart — For two weeks, this location turned an evacuation heart. Greater than 500 Kaiser Permanente workers members — physicians, nurses, psychological well being workers, pharmacists, and nonmedical personnel — labored and volunteered in shifts, contributing over 8,300 hours treating greater than 1,200 sufferers. Individuals who had been significantly harm or sick had been taken to close by emergency departments.
- Cellular well being automobiles — Usually used for preventive screenings at employer and group websites, we despatched a number of automobiles to completely different areas, together with the Westwood Recreation and Evacuation Heart, the FEMA Catastrophe Restoration Heart at Pasadena Metropolis Faculty, BMO Stadium, and SoFi Stadium. These automobiles helped us present important medical companies and over-the-counter medicines to extra individuals in want.
- Psychological well being help — Psychological well being professionals from throughout California volunteered to supply additional help and sources to our members and other people locally affected by the fires.
Donations to help restoration
Restoration from disasters like wildfires takes plenty of sources. We’re grateful to the group organizations that helped information individuals by way of the disaster. To help residents and first responders, we donated over $1 million, with funds to those organizations:
We additionally offered intensive grants, loans, and sources to help our staff and physicians who had been immediately affected by the fires.
FireAid live performance
We had been a proud sponsor of FireAid, a profit live performance held on January 30, 2025, which raised greater than $100 million to assist wildfire victims. All sponsorships, donations, and ticket gross sales are going immediately to assist rebuild and restore impacted communities.
Wanting forward
Large disasters like these wildfires can have an effect on individuals for a very long time. It’s essential to discover ways to defend your self and your loved ones from wildfires and different emergencies.
Whereas we targeted on serving to individuals affected by the wildfires in Los Angeles County, we acknowledge there’s a want for long-term restoration. We’ll hold working with metropolis and county leaders, native teams, and our members to assist the county get better and keep robust.
For over 80 years, we’ve been dedicated to constructing more healthy communities — and we’ll proceed doing that, now and sooner or later.
