Focus Feature: COVID-19 outcomes are more severe for people of color

People of color were more likely to be hospitalized and to receive intensive-level care for COVID-19 compared to white patients even after adjusting for known health risk factors such as obesity, diabetes, and other conditions The Kaiser Permanente study was among the first to show that these inequities affect Pacific Islander patients in addition to Black, Hispanic, and Asian people.

R&E News and Features

  • Celebrating our extraordinary nurses

    National Nurses Week starts today!  In this article we celebrate the dedicated nurses who work in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, and introduce you to 3 of these inspiring professionals. 

  • New Kaiser Permanente COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effect Monitoring System launches

    A pilot of a new Kaiser Permanente COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effect Monitoring System kicked off in late April, starting with the Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park and Los Angeles medical centers. 

  • Physical activity may reduce risk of poor COVID-19 outcomes

    Regular physical activity provided strong protection from hospitalization, intensive care unit admission, and death. Even exercising inconsistently lowered the odds for severe COVID-19 outcomes when compared to people who were not active at all.

  • Child vaccination rates recovering since pandemic’s early days

    The numbers of recommended vaccine doses, including measles vaccine, administered to children decreased dramatically at the start of the the COVID-19 pandemic. While the decrease was lower and recovered in children under 2 years of age, it was more severe and persistent in older children.

  • Most patients’ end-of-life care wishes are met

    The vast majority of patients make their end-of-life care wishes known to loved ones, and nearly 90% of the time those wishes were carried out according to Kaiser Permanente research published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

In the News

Five questions...

for Dr. Ana Florea

Ana Florea, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and post-doctoral research fellow with the Department of Research & Evaluation at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. She has special interests in vaccine safety and effectiveness, infectious diseases, cancer, and chronic kidney diseases. Currently, she is involved in projects studying shingles and Tdap vaccines. She works on projects involving antibiotic resistance and hepatitis B chronic infection.