Today at noon, we will begin our celebration of Black History Month with a flag raising at UW Medicine hospital campuses.
This year’s national theme, “African Americans and Labor,” holds special significance in healthcare where Black faculty, staff, clinicians, trainees and students have made and are making enduring impacts to our community and beyond.
At UW Medicine, we are proud to celebrate Black colleagues in leadership positions, faculty and staff roles and on the front lines who deliver important contributions throughout our organization. We are fortunate to have so many noteworthy examples of people within our community making substantial impacts and would like to highlight some of their accomplishments:
- Conducting foundational research that will make an imprint on improving the health of the public for decades to come, such as Dr. Kemi Doll’s work on endometrial cancer and Dr. Yaw Nyame’s work on prostate cancer.
- Developing training for clinicians and patient communications to improve health, such as the work of Dr. Jocelyn Thomas to impact preterm births.
- Maintaining smooth hospital operations regardless of daily challenges and one-of-a-kind events, as Harborview Medical Center administrator Mark Taylor does every day.
- Inspiring the next generation of healthcare workers, as pharmaceutical PhD candidate Kieann Simon does in her volunteer work with underrepresented students.
- Bringing comfort to patients and the families of patients in times of distress, such as UW Medical Center NICU’s spiritual advisor, Trina Banks.
- Improving the workplace through equity-in-the-moment discussions, like those facilitated by Harborview Medical Center nurses, Lanisha Sherwood and Malaika Edwards.
- And throughout UW Medicine, the many Black clinicians delivering day-in-and-day-out compassionate care to our patients.
Thank you to these employees and many others; we celebrate your care and contributions.
As we celebrate, we also acknowledge that there is much work to be done to ensure equity in the U.S. healthcare system. Our values at UW Medicine — including providing equitable care to all patients, building a workforce that reflects the patients we serve, and creating an environment where everyone feels valued — are more important than ever.
We encourage the UW Medicine community to take advantage of the many educational resources provided by UW Medicine’s Office of Healthcare Equity. The Huddle Black History Month page provides digital assets to take part in this month’s celebration, as well as learning and self-care resources.
Thank you for joining us to celebrate Black History Month, to reflect upon the many contributions of our Black team members, and to consider the ways in which each of us can uphold our values.
Sincerely,
Timothy H. Dellit, MD (He, Him, His)
CEO, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
Paula L. Houston, EdD, MHA (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Equity Officer
Office of Healthcare Equity, UW Medicine
Associate Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Bessie A. Young, MD, MPH (She, Her, Hers)
Vice Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Office of Healthcare Equity, UW Medicine
Professor of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine,
University of Washington
Brad Simmons (He, Him, His)
President, UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics
Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Alexander Chiu, MD (He, Him, His)
Executive Vice Dean, UW School of Medicine
Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Jacqueline Cabe (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Financial Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Becca Kelly (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Advancement Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Anneliese Schleyer, MD, MHA (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Medical Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Cindy Hecker, RN (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Executive Officer
UW Medical Center
Sommer Kleweno Walley, MHA, MA (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Executive Officer
Harborview Medical Center
Jeannine Erickson Grinnell (She, Her, Hers)
Chief Executive Officer
Valley Medical Center
Hunter Wessells, MD, FACS (He, Him, His)
President, UW Physicians
Professor of Urology, UW Medicine
Pranika Laing (She, Her, Hers)
Associate Administrator
UW Medicine Primary Care and Population Health
Jeff Richey, RN, MHA, FACHE (He, Him, His)
Associate Administrator
Airlift Northwest
Lab Medicine, Pathology and Telecommunication
Harborview Medical Center