About Us

The Garfield Innovation Center is staffed by teams of designers, technologists and strategists each united around a common goal: to help make healthcare better for our members and our communities. Interdisciplinary teams imagine the future of health and healthcare, and what it takes to get there.

At the Garfield Innovation Center, we use actionable human and data-driven insights to design solutions that are both feasible and built to transform existing business models and integrating technology with in-person service experiences.

Our teams explore new solutions using hands-on simulations, quick prototyping, and iterative testing to evolve innovations before they’re deployed. Our goal is to inspire the people of Kaiser Permanente to imagine a future unlike today and give them tools to create it.

Other Innovation Centers

Center for Total Health

Washington, DC

An interactive learning destination in Washington D.C. for the public, policymakers and the health care industry, the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health demonstrates what Kaiser Permanente and others have done and are doing to advance health care in the United States. The team is dedicated to sharing, developing, and accelerating ideas that improve total health around the world.

Visit Center for Total Health

Our Legacy

The Garfield Center is named after Kaiser Permanente’s founding physician, Dr. Sidney Garfield. He was a passionate innovator of hospital design, care delivery, and the power of computers in health care.

Dr. Garfield pioneered a game changing health care delivery model that kept people well, in addition to providing care when ill. He envisioned a system that encouraged members to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which ultimately became the roots of Kaiser Permanente’s “Thrive” motto.

Dr. Garfield’s curiosity and drive to improve systems are reflected in the mission, projects, and future-minded vision of our Center today.