 Sydney Garfield was a doctor. Henry Kaiser was a builder. Both were visionaries and innovators. Dr. Garfield was experimenting with a model that blended prepayment for medical care with an emphasis on preventing injury and illness. Kaiser wanted to improve medical care for his workers to keep them healthy and on the job. The pair joined forces at the biggest dam ever built, Grand Coulee, in 1938. Garfield focused on a simple insight. Doctors had things backwards. They got paid only if people were hurt or sick. Prepaid health care, he reasoned, could turn that on its head. Doctors working in groups could be paid to keep people well and treat them when needed. Providing services under one roof, as Garfield put it, could make care more efficient with better results. There was a change in the severity of illness. We no longer saw terminal mnemonies, we saw early mnemonies. We didn't see very many ruptured appendices, we'd see early appendices. And diphtheria entirely disappeared. The Kaiser Permanente model was born. When America entered World War II, Kaiser's legendary shipyard workers on the west coast smashed records for shipbuilding. Dr. Garfield set about keeping them well, by building the largest civilian medical care program on America's home front. Henry Kaiser was the passionate advocate. I can't understand for the license why there should be any conflict or controversy over any plan that brings comprehensive high quality medical care to Americans at a low cost. Soon, the nation's eyes turned toward this innovative new idea. After the war, Kaiser and Garfield opened to Kaiser Permanente to the public, staying true to Garfield's original vision.