Kaiser Permanente
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After nearly four decades, Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre program, a key initiative in promoting health education through storytelling, will cease operations as the nonprofit transitions to a community-partner delivery model. The decision marks the end of a program that has impacted millions of students and educators across the country, and also cost one prominent member of Denver’s theater community her job.
Betty Hart, Colorado Theatre Guild president and co-artistic director of Local Theater Company, talked about losing her position after 25 years in a January 6 Facebook post.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce that Kaiser Permanente’s National Educational Theater is no longer an entity,” Hart wrote. “Almost a 40-year run doing extraordinary work will cease operations as we’ve known it today (for many of us) and June (for those doing school-based work). I have had the honor of working for Kaiser Permanente’s Georgia, Colorado, and National Educational Theater for 25 years. I am grateful for ALL the extraordinary people I’ve met and befriended along the way, as well as all the skills I’ve obtained.”
According to Andrew Sorenson, senior manager for media relations at Kaiser Permanente Colorado, the programming will continue through collaboration with a still-to-be-determined partner. “Educational Theatre has been an important component of our highly valued Thriving Schools initiative for many years,” Sorenson says in an emailed statement. “We are absolutely continuing this great work. What will be different in 2025 and beyond is that we are transitioning delivery of the program to an external community organization rather than doing it all in-house. This change will help us support schools, students, educators and districts across our footprint in a more impactful and equitable way and help address the growing national demand from our schools for in-person programs.”
The end of the Educational Theatre program has impacted employees beyond Hart; Kaiser Permanente declined to share the total number of job losses, citing “respect for the individuals affected by these kinds of actions.”
Since its inception in 1986, Educational Theatre has been a cornerstone of Kaiser Permanente’s community outreach efforts. Shows like Ghosted, which helped high school students navigate mental health challenges, and RISE UP, a professional development initiative for educators, exemplified its mission.
Prior to the pandemic, the initiative took these professional productions and educational workshops to schools. In 2020, however, it switched entirely to virtual programming and never returned to live programming. But according to the nonprofit, theater doesn’t need to be in-person to be effective.
“Educational Theatre uses arts-based learning and storytelling to take on key social challenges threatening the health of our communities, making complex health topics, such as mental health and wellness, accessible and memorable to school staff and K-12 students,” Sorenson says. “We remain committed to bringing these educational resources to our communities together with our partners and trusted organizations to support schools in becoming a beacon of health in their community.”
While the nonprofit insists that outsourcing will allow for expanded programming to meet the growing demand for in-person engagement in schools, critics have their doubts…and also worry about the lack of transparency regarding the status of former employees and the selection process for a new community partner. Storytelling may help shape healthier lives, but the last chapter for this program ended with a cliffhanger.