At Harborview Medical Center, we are guided by our commitment to our mission and our desire to serve the community.
We are proud to have been honored with the following awards and accolades. Links to past years can be found on the right of this page.
JUNE, 2009
Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Dr. David Heimbach, UW professor of surgery, was one of 49 individuals honored as "Unsung Heroes of Compassion" by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, at a ceremony April 26 in San Francisco. Heimbach, a physician and former director at the UW Medicine Burn Center at Harborview, pioneered the use of surgical treatments for burn care, which are now standard procedures in the field.
The recognition by the Dalai Lama also highlights Heimbach's important contributions to burn care worldwide. He serves on the board of the Global Burn Care and Reconstruction Foundation, a nonprofit organization working in Bhutan to create a model for transforming burn care in developing countries. He also has trained more than 50 physicians from around the world, who return home with enhanced burn care expertise after spending a year at Harborview.
MAY, 2009
UW School of Medicine
The UW School of Medicine's Medical Student Association has named its annual first-year students’ teaching award, The Erika Goldstein Award for Dedication to Medical Education, in honor of Dr. Erika Goldstein, UW professor of medicine at Harborview. Goldstein is founding director of the School of Medicine Colleges and head of Rainier College. She has previously received two George N. Aagaard Outstanding Teacher Awards as well as both UW and School of Medicine Distinguished Teaching Awards and is now a Teacher Superior in Perpetuity.
UW Neurology Department
Michael K. Copass, professor of medicine and of neurology, has received the Department’s Marvin Turck Outstanding Teaching Award in honor of excellence in teaching and patient care. The award honors Dr. Turck, a member of the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1964.
ATS and the American Lung Association
Leonard D. Hudson, professor of medicine and head of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from 1985 to 2003, received the 2009 Edward Livingston Trudeau Medal from the ATS and the American Lung Association, announced earlier this year. The award honors Dr. Hudson’s many contributions to research, his training of pulmonary and critical care physicians, and his extraordinary patient care.
American Thoracic Society
Dr. J. Randall Curtis, UW professor of medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at Harborview, was installed as president of the American Thoracic Society at its international conference May 19 in San Diego. Started in 1905 to combat tuberculosis in the United States, the society has grown into an international society with more than 15,000 members. It is dedicated to advancing the clinical and scientific understanding of pulmonary diseases, critical illnesses and sleep-related breathing disorders.
APRIL, 2009
City of Seattle, Mayor's Office
On April 1, Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess visited the Harborview Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress. He delivered a proclamation signed by the mayor and all nine city council members honoring the center during Sexual Assault Awareness month. The city provided initial funding to start the center in 1973 and provides current funding to help support the sexual assault nurse examiner program, crisis intervention and advocacy services for victims.
MARCH, 2009
UW School of Nursing
Cindy Hecker, chief nursing officer and senior associate administrator for patient care operations at Harborview, has been awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UW School of Nursing. Hecker was recognized for enhancing patient care through the establishment of an after-hours clinic at Harborview for non-emergency care and for increasing the efficiency of the hospital’s pharmacy operations.
Seattle Business Magazine
Dr. Michael Copass, UW professor of neurology, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Seattle Business (formerly Washington CEO) during the magazine’s first annual recognition event for Washington state’s Leaders in Health Care. Copass was honored for his contributions to the field of emergency medicine, including the creation of a world-class trauma center at Harborview, and for his leadership roles with Medic One and Airlift Northwest.
Seattle Business Magazine
Harborview Medical Center was the unanimous choice of the judging panel for Outstanding Community Outreach. This award recognizes not only Harborview's role as the region’s safety-net hospital, but its programs for serving community needs beyond the walls of the hospital, such as health care for the homeless, housing and employment services for the mentally ill, and Community House Calls for bilingual outreach.
Seattle Business Magazine
Dr. David Flum, UW professor of surgery, received the award for Outstanding Health Care Professional from Seattle Business Magazine. As director of the UW Surgical Outcomes Research Center, Flum is a leader in the effort to use outcomes data to improve surgical care. He also serves as medical director for the Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program (SCOAP), a statewide initiative to implement a standardized surgical checklist at every hospital in Washington.
FEBRUARY, 2009
American Thoracic Society
Dr. Leonard Hudson, UW professor of medicine and former head of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Harborview, is the recipient of the 2009 Edward Livingston Trudeau Medal from the American Thoracic Society and American Lung Association. This award is given in recognition of lifelong major contributions to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung disease through leadership in research, education or clinical care.