Kaiser executive meets new career challenge
By Kathryn H all Boylt
A lvin W ashington, a career
executive, feels that change and new
beginnings are fertile soil for
growth—personal growth and gain.
Il was with this perspective that
he eagerly accepted the challenge his
company, the Kaiser Foundation
Health Plan dangled before his eyes
a few weeks ago. The challenge
meant that he would exchange the
vice presidency in Portland and the
associate spot with the regional
manager of the Kaiser-Pcrmanente
H ealth Care program to go to
Raleigh, N orth C aro lin a to in
troduce the Kaiser plan there. As a
vice president and manager of the
new region, he would have a
secretary to start with and his wealth
of experience to build a flourishing
business in the field of health care
planning where, currently, there is
none.
In Portland, Washington pointed
out, he leaves an area where one
person out of every five living in this
Port land-Vancouver metropolitan
area is a member o f Kaiser-
Permanente Health Care program.
The local plan has 3,600 employees
to operate two hospitals, eight
medical office buildings and five
dental office buildings to take care
o f the needs o f 59,000 potential
patients enrolled in the Kaiser dental
program and 268,000 enrolled in the
medical programs. "H e re we loom
as the ninth largest business in the
State of Oregon for revenues that,
in 1983-84, were in excess o f 200
m illion d o lla rs ," he said. Here,
Washington shared the total respon
sibility for the operation o f the
O regon-W ashington region with
Daniel O . Wagster, regional
manager and top executive for
Kaiser. D r. M arvin Goldberg,
regional medical director and
president o f N .W Permancnte,
works with the medical staff in
cooperation with Wagster and
Washington.
" H a lf of my day is involved with
group meetings as it requires the in
volvement of many people in com
pleting our projects with understand
ing and group accord. For instance,
Washington explained, “ there is the
regional program we mentioned for
Jental care, the department of plan
ting and medical economics, a staff
hat gathers statistics and studies
nalysis to anticipate long range
ilanning; we have 50 people in the
omputer services, then there is the
tusiness core to draw the guidelines
or the health plan, and last — the
lepartment of professional liability.
I speak with these people every day.
"Kaiser looks into the care of the
medically indigent o f the area we
serve and we look to legislative
figures to involve the government in
this care. This is familiar ground for
__ _ ’ •
me.
Washington is a member o f the
Oregon Health Council which helps
to develop health planning policies
for the State of Oregon He was a
member of the education committee
of the Portland Chamber o f C om
merce. a board member o f the
Greater Portland Business Group
on health which recommends ways
to m aintain cost containment in
health care. (Kaiser patients stay in
the hospital for 4 .9 days as com
pared to 5.8 days for others in the
community. Maternity patients may
elect to go home after six to twelve
hours. They may expect a home visit
by an R .N . w ithin 48 hours
following discharge.)
Washington decided to make the
move to Raleigh and build the
Kaiser plan there from the ground
up. He is confident he will be ready
to open a fully-staffed installation
with Raleigh clients waiting for ser
vice by January, 1985. He is con
fident because: " I'v e been with
Kaiser six years and was the one
person they chose out of 800 who
applied at the opening level o f
health plan manager "
His background includes 25 years
in the United Stales Air Force— he
retired as a lieutenant colonel He is
a graduate of W harton Business
School, has attended University of
Pennsylvania and Union School of
Medicine.
He holds a M .S . degree in ad
m inistration and management
engineering from George W ash
ington U niversity, a master o f
science degree from O hio State
University and has a bachelors in
Biology from Lincoln University.
He has lived four years in Japan and
was in China near the Russian bor
der for a while. He speaks a little
Japanese and a little French. W hen
in the U S A F , he was stationed in
N o rfo lk , V A . His work, with 150
N A T O staff representing 14 coun
tries, involved significant travel to
E urope’ s capitol cities: Athens,
London, Oslo, Paris and Rome.
The rewards for accomplishing
his new goals can be of great value
to this goal-oriented career man.
His wife, Jacqueline, their daughter,
Jocelyn and their son, Alvin, Jr., go
gladly to new territory. They know
that something exciting is a l
ways waiting to happen— just
ahead— this time, across the coun
try.
Is there a health career
in your future?
Kaiser-Permancnte offers a progressive work
environment; and a variety of work settings and career
opportunities for persons interes 13483939
*'
' ’ ’ care
field. Whether you like working with patients, operating
computers, or working in an office setting, whether you
have an associate degree, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., or on-the-job
acquired work experience, opportunities exist in health
care and at Kaiser-Pemianente.
Consider a career
in psychology
Psychologists are trained to
evaluate, counsel and advise in
dividuals and groups. If one is con
cerned with experiences and human
behavior, psychology can be an ex
citing field o f study. Some
psychologists work in the field of
pure science attem pting to fo r
mulate knowledge while others are
concerned with the application of
psychological principles. Not all
psychologists are limited to research
and applied psychology. Some
specialize in areas such as ex
perim ental, industrial, human
factors, clinical, community, social,
educational
or
consumer
psychology to name a few Private
practice is attractive to many
psychologists while still others work
in educational institutions, private
corporations, or for the federal
government. Research suggests that
over fifty percent of psychologists
work at colleges and universities
teaching and researching Slightly
more than twenty percent are in
clinical and counseling practices and
nearly thirty per cent work in either
management or administration.
To become a psychologist, one
should begin preparing early during
the undergraduate career years.
Graduate training is nearly an ab
solute necessity. The most satisfying
opportunities in psychology require
a P h.D. Specific requirements for
admission may vary according to
the
college
or
university.
Requirements for entering graduate
programs should be sought by
w riting directly to the college or
university one plans to attend. Over
1,500 colleges and universities offer
a bachelor's degree program in
psychology; about 325 a master's,
about 165, a P h.D .; and about 10,
a Psy.D.
According to the O ccupational
O u tlo ok H and b oo k. 1981, the
career outlook for Psychologists is
expected to grow faster than the
average for all occupations through
the 80's. Earnings of a psychologist
may range from $10,700 to $30,300
a year.
(Photo Richard J Brown!
(l-r) T im C a rp e n te r. M rs W a s h in g to n . A lv in W a s h in g to n and Enoch Gasa
If you
are interested
in directing your education
towards a health career,
we would be1 happy to help you
with career counselling.
Call 280-2940.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
PERM ANENTE
HEALTH CARE PROGRAM
.An equal np|M>rtunity employer handieapiKxl hired.
Portland Observer, June 6, 1964 Section II Page 3