WEEK OF AUGUST 8, 2024
VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 35
FREE Official groundbreaking of the highly anticipated Kaiser Permanente Parker Medical Offices. From left to right: Dr. Kristina Reitz, President and CEO of the South Metro Denver Chamber Jeff Keener, Councilmember Brandi Wilks, Councilmember Anne Barrington, Parker Town Manager Michelle Kivela, Mayor Jeff Toborg, President and Executive Medical Director of Colorado Permanente Group Jeff Krawcek, Kaiser Permanente Regional President Michael Ramseier, state Rep. Anthony Hartsook and state Sen. Jim SmallPHOTO BY HALEY LENA wood.
BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Nearly two decades in the making, Kaiser Permanente has finally broken ground for its new Parker Medi-
cal Offices, which are anticipated to open to patients in 2025. Amid the sounds of machinery, Jeffery Krawcek, president and executive medical director of Colorado Permanente Group, ushered in the moment with excitement. “Our team is working together to really optimize their care and to be able to make it easier for them to do that so the patients get a better experience, better outcomes, better quality and better health care,” said
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Panel considers whether to recommend further reforms BY BRIAN EASON THE COLORADO SUN
Krawcek. When Kaiser Permanente looked at Parker in the mid-2000s, they had bought the piece of land at 12249 Pine Bluffs Way, anticipating growth in the years ahead. Kaiser Permanente began providing health care to Parker residents in 2009. Since 2020, more than 2,500 additional Kaiser Permanente members have made the Parker Medical Of-
The state’s public pension could be underestimating the scope of its financial problems by billions of dollars, an independent review found, raising fresh concerns about the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association and its tenuous finances. As a result, for the first time since a state pension overhaul in 2018, a legislative oversight panel is considering whether to recommend further reforms to the system, which manages the retirement benefits of more than 700,000 current and former public sector workers. The concerns stem from a steady drip of bad news this summer —
SEE MEDICAL CENTER, P8
SEE PERA, P18
Kaiser Permanente breaks ground in Parker A long time in the works, offices anticipated to open in 2025
PERA’s finances spark questions
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GIVING VOICE American Sign Language and the importance of communication
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