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Kaiser tells Health Service Board it will open a medical school in Pasadena starting 2019
Summary
A Kaiser Permanente representative told the board Kaiser will open a new medical school in Pasadena in 2019 with an initial class of roughly 50 students, framing the program as focused on integrated care and increasing primary care supply.
Representatives from Kaiser Permanente informed the Health Service Board that Kaiser plans to open its own medical school in Pasadena with classes starting in 2019.
Cindy Stragle of Kaiser said the school will initially enroll about 50 physician candidates and will expand Kaiser’s role in early medical education by adding a first‑year program: "It'll start with roughly 50 physician candidates," she said, and emphasized a mission to promote integrated and primary care practice models rather than solely channeling graduates back into Kaiser facilities.
Board members asked whether the school would emphasize primary care and how teaching efforts would be acknowledged for practicing clinicians. Stragle said the mission includes inspiring primary care careers and hoped existing Kaiser clinicians who teach would receive recognition; board members suggested the model could support rural access if similar efforts extended beyond Pasadena.
Significance: The announcement signals an employer‑led effort to expand the primary care workforce and to influence clinical training toward integrated care delivery. The board requested updates as the medical school planning progresses.
