It has been nearly three years since our first patient was admitted with COVID-19. It is remarkable the impact the pandemic has had on all of us. As we begin to emerge from this chapter, the healthcare landscape has significantly changed. As many of you are aware, along with all healthcare systems across the country, UW Medicine is struggling with serious capacity, access and staffing challenges compounding unprecedented financial impacts. We must urgently adapt and respond in a manner that allows us to continue serving our critical role in our region.
To that end, we wanted to share an update on our plan to ensure that UW Medicine can continue to provide high-quality, equitable patient care to meet the current and future needs of our community. We are calling this effort Mission Forward because the work will define our future path, including the steps we must take to continue delivering on our mission to improve the health of the public. We will work together to address capacity and staffing constraints and restore financial stability while supporting our patient care, educational and research missions. As we address these challenges together, we recognize the toll of the past three years and are committed to continuing to support the well-being of our UW Medicine community.
This work will require changes for many of us and may require us to reimagine aspects of our operations, adopt new technology or learn new skills. We acknowledge that all of this change can feel overwhelming, so we will do this work together, supporting each other in our mission.
We are currently assessing our financial situation, talking with leaders, board members, clinicians, and team members across the organization to gain insight and inform our assessment. We will work to quickly identify short and long-term targets and opportunities for improvements. Mission Forward will build upon existing programs such as length of stay and clinical documentation initiatives, that we know are critical to our long-term success. There will also be new initiatives and new ways of working that will help us continue to meet our mission in a sustainable way.
While this is a challenging time, it’s also an opportunity for all of us to think differently about our work. This initiative is designed to ensure we continue to meet our mission to improve the health of the public. We will reach out for your input and involvement and will keep you updated as Mission Forward progresses.
We remain inspired by the work that all the members of our community have done as we navigated the last three years together. We are deeply grateful for your continued partnership as we rise to meet this moment together.
Sincerely,
Timothy H. Dellit, MD
Interim CEO, UW Medicine
Interim Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and
Interim Dean of the School of Medicine,
University of Washington
Cynthia Dold
Interim President, UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics
Interim Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Jacqueline Cabe
Chief Financial Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Washington
Ruth Mahan, JD
Chief Business Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Anneliese Schleyer, MD, MHA
Interim Chief Medical Officer, UW Medicine
Interim Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Don Theophilus, JD
Chief Advancement Officer, UW Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs,
University of Washington
Cindy Hecker
Chief Executive Officer
UW Medical Center
Sommer Kleweno Walley
Chief Executive Officer
Harborview Medical Center
Debra Gussin
Executive Director
UW Medicine Primary Care Clinics
Associate Vice President, Primary Care and Population Health
UW Medicine
Jeff Richey
Executive Director
Airlift Northwest
Anthony Dorsch
Executive Director, UW Physicians
