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News release: Colorado - Denver/BoulderOctober 2, 2002 For more information, call: Kaiser Permanente teams with national consortium to track bioterror events Denver, CO – Kaiser Permanente Colorado has been tapped to assist with national homeland security efforts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded a $1.2 million grant to a consortium of health care organizations, including Kaiser Permanente Colorado. The consortium will develop a warning system that will analyze patient records for clusters of health complaints associated with bioterror agents. Clinical research investigator Debra Ritzwoller, PhD., spoke with the media Wednesday morning on the National Bioterrorism Syndromic Surveillance Demonstration Program. Bioterrorism Surveillance Program News Conference Participants Debra Ritzwoller, PhD, clinical research investigator Kaiser Permanente Colorado currently operates a surveillance program to track influenza each winter. This program will be expanded to capture diagnoses consistent with a possible bioterror agent. The expanded system would search for upper and lower respiratory illnesses, rashes, fevers, neurologic events, and other health conditions that may be early symptoms of bioterror agents. Each day's results are compared to historical records to identify unusual numbers or geographic clustering. We are partnering with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to expand our current surveillance region. Contact Lori Maldonado at 303-692-2028 at the health department to speak with Dr. Ken Gershner. Kaiser Permanente joins Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (with Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates), Optum, HealthPartners Research Foundation and the American Association of Health Plans in this national consortium. Kaiser Permanente, a non-profit organization and largest private health care provider in Colorado, recently was named one of the top 15 health care organizations in the country. The clinical research unit employs 70 investigators and staff, including six physicians who see patients in the Denver/Boulder medical offices. The unit receives grants from major federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and collaborates with leading academic institutions across the country.
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