Health Care

Community Outreach is a Critical Function of Health Care Institutions

By Seattle Business Magazine February 18, 2011

Outstanding Achievement in Community Outreach (in alphabetical order)

Airlift Northwest

Before a group of hospitals founded this air medical transport service in 1982, the outcomes for victims of bear attacks in remote British Columbia or patients in need of an emergency transplants in rural Eastern Washington looked quite different. With helicopters, a Lear jet and a turbo prop stationed in cities from Juneau, Alaska, to Olympia, Wash., and critical-care nurses aboard each flight, Airlift Northwest has made the difference in saving the lives of many of the 80,000 people it has cared for so far.

Bastyr University, External Site Program

The largest university for natural health arts and sciences in the country, Bastyr University offers free or low-cost naturopathic care to underserved populations in King County through its 15-year-old external site program. Students in advanced naturopathic medicine and acupuncture and Oriental medicine treat patients at 12 locations, including a downtown homeless shelter, a rural community center in Carnation and the Country Doctor Clinic for low-income patients on Seattles Capitol Hill. The program reached 3,567 patients in 2009.

Sea Mar Community Health Centers

Executive Director Rogelio Riojas grew up with little access to health care, and providing it to socioeconomically disadvantaged people became one of the drivers in his life. With a history of activism and degrees from the University of Washington in political science and health administration, Riojas has expanded Sea Mar, a community clinic that concentrates on the Latino population. Today, Sea Mars 56 clinics and programs throughout Washington offer a range of care including medical, dental, maternal support services, child development, behavioral health, housing and youth programs, including boxing.

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