After a challenging year of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now at a turning point of having a safe and effective vaccine available to our community — a momentous step forward in the fight against this virus. The more members of our UW Medicine staff who are vaccinated, the safer it will be for our patients, staff, faculty, trainees and students as well as the safety of our families and friends.
As a clinical leadership team, we are committed to safe, effective and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with high ethical standards and sound scientific principles. We believe in the safety of the approved vaccines and strongly encourage all eligible employees to get immunized when the opportunity is available.
As a measure of our confidence in the safety and critical nature of the COVID-19 vaccine, we are proudly pledging that as leadership team members we will be joining you in vaccination as soon as we are eligible to do so.
Furthermore, as part of this pledge, we commit to:
- Continue to always make the safety and well-being of our employees and patients our top priority.
- Maintain adherence to high scientific, ethical and equitable standards regarding the vaccine.
- Appropriately prioritize distribution among employees, community partners and patients in accordance with federal and state guidelines as established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Ensure our employees receive the information and support needed as vaccinations are distributed.
- Listen to concerns and provide answers within an appropriate time frame.
We also affirm our commitment to ensuring equitable distribution of this vaccine, especially to help those populations most vulnerable to COVID-19.
As we continue to fight this pandemic, we believe not only that vaccination is a crucial aspect of protecting our employees and patients, but also that our collective efforts embody and help advance UW Medicine’s mission of improving health for all people.
Sincerely,
Paul G. Ramsey, MD
CEO, UW Medicine
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Dean of the School of Medicine, University of Washington
Lisa Brandenburg
President, UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
Jacqueline Cabe
Chief Financial Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
Timothy H. Dellit, MD
Chief Medical Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
President, UW Physicians
Ruth Mahan
Chief Business Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
Don Theophilus
Chief Advancement Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
Cindy Hecker
Chief Executive Officer, UW Medical Center
Sommer Kleweno-Walley
Interim Chief Executive Officer, Harborview Medical Center
Rich Roodman
Chief Executive Officer, Valley Medical Center
Jeannine Grinnell
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Valley Medical Center
John Lynch, MD, MPH
Medical Director, Infection Prevention & Control
Associate Medical Director, Harborview Medical Center
Division of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, UW School of Medicine
Cynthia Dold
Associate Vice President for Clinical Operations, UW Medicine
Paula L. Houston, Ed. D.
Chief Equity Officer, UW Medicine
Associate Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
Jeff Richey
Interim Executive Director, Airlift Northwest
Debra Gussin
Associate Vice President, Primary Care and Population Health, UW Medicine
Executive Director, UW Neighborhood Clinics
Anthony Dorsch
Executive Director, UW Physicians
