The start of a new year is a time to look to the future. In this spirit, I want to share with you my thoughts for our work together in 2025. I believe UW Medicine will continue to be a leading healthcare system through the excellence of our work in patient care, medical education and research and through the powerful impact of our mission and values.
I also want to acknowledge the uncertainty that many members of our community may be feeling. As with any change to federal administration, we should expect changes to federal policies and law. We could face reductions in federal funding for biomedical research and undercompensated care, changes in immigration policy, and challenges in providing reproductive and gender-affirming care.
While we cannot predict whether any of these threats will materialize, we are preparing for many possible scenarios. Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic provides a model for navigating uncertainty by highlighting the benefits we achieved by coming together as a system. In all of our planning, we recognize that our core values as an organization and the outstanding talents of our people are the keys to meeting challenges successfully.
- UW Medicine is unique as an academic health system with local and global impact. We excel in basic and translational biomedical research, interprofessional medical education and innovative patient care while also focusing on improving health in underserved and rural communities.
- In our role as the state’s public hospital system and safety net, we often provide services that are available nowhere else. Through the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program, we also serve a vast and diverse region. Despite the diversity of perspectives across the region, we have shared common ground for over 50 years in our desire to increase access to care, develop the healthcare workforce for the future, and improve the health of local communities. We will continue to strive for this common ground, while maintaining our values, as we explore potential new opportunities, such as funding for rural access to healthcare and the advancement of new technologies or fields of research.
- Our mission and values are strengthened through our collaborations with other UW schools and colleges and through our many research, teaching and clinical partnerships, including Seattle Children’s, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and the VA Puget Sound and Boise.
- We are making progress in creating supportive and inclusive learning and work environments for all employees. I was especially encouraged to see the higher scores last year on our Well-Being Survey for professional fulfillment and clinical practice efficiency along with lower rates for burnout. Still, there is more work to do to achieve and maintain our learning and workplace goals.
- We cultivate innovation as part of our culture. In the coming year, this will include more uses of generative AI tools in our research, education and clinical environments and in support of business operations.
- We have made strides to stabilize our finances following the challenges of the pandemic through 1) capture of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) funds to recover costs experienced in responding to the pandemic; 2) legislative support over the past several years for our role as the state’s safety net and for educating the next generation of healthcare professionals and scientists; 3) new federal payment programs to support undercompensated care for patients covered by Medicaid; and 4) improvements in operational efficiencies and access to care. As we look toward the future, we are transitioning from periodic one-time legislative support to creating sustainable funding in support of our mission, such as our recent partnership with King County to create a tax levy that will provide dedicated funding for Harborview beginning this year.
- We are developing the strategic vision and plans to address our capacity constraints, including future bed and OR needs, that are critical to allow growth of our clinical programs to serve our communities into the future.
- As we think about future research and educational needs, we are also engaging in planning with UW and the health sciences schools regarding the future of our health sciences complex. While this will be a multi-year effort, we look forward to beginning to create this shared vision over the next year.
While 2025 is sure to bring challenges, it will also be a time for us to come together as a community and take pride in what we can accomplish together. I wish you all the best in the new year and thank you for your contributions to our continued success at UW Medicine and our ability to improve the health of the communities we serve.
With gratitude,
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