2013 Leaders in Health Care, Community Outreach

WINNER:

Pioneer Square Clinic/Harborview Medical Center
Harborview Medical Centers outreach program lives up to the name of its location in Seattles Pioneer Square by blazing new trails in providing primary care for physical and mental conditions in the homeless and low-income community.

For more than 40 years, the King County hospital operated by UW Medicine has made its clinics services available where patients already seek shelter and child care, operating at hours when they are truly needed, such as in the early morning. Unlike many programs elsewhere, patients are not turned away for failure to take medications or for lack of sobriety.

Weve developed a model that meets the patients where they are, says Harborview Executive Director Eileen Whalen, and run them not for our convenience, but for theirs. Whalen notes that this approach is vital to the hospitals mission to serve the most vulnerable and to its role as a safety-net institution. Situated close to six shelters, a major adult day center, several single-resident-occupancy hotels and many units of low-income housing, the clinic provides more than 8,300 medical visits each year.

That record, Whalen says, makes the Pioneer Square Clinic one of the absolute jewels in our crown. In recent years, the clinic has directed considerable energy toward reaching out to women, many of whom will not seek services when homeless. The clinic also has a new medical respite program, offering a safe place to recover to those who are medically ready to go home after an emergency room visit but dont have a home. The clinic, Whalen notes, is also one of the most sought-after residencies among physicians in training, indicating how the efforts satisfy both sides of the exchange.

SILVER AWARDS:

YMCA of Greater Seattle
Long a center of family sports and recreation, the YMCA has sharpened its focus on encouraging family health through several key programs that target activity, nutrition and lifestyle. These offerings range from the popular Livestrong exercise program to diabetes prevention classes with follow-up. A program developed with Seattle Childrens to target childhood obesity has been replicated throughout YMCAs across the state. Its reach is aided by subsidies and scholarships, with most programs offered in both English and Spanish.

Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS)
Led by Executive Director Diane Narasaki, ACRS is one of the largest Pacific American community nonprofit organizations in the country, providing social and behavioral services to 27,000 people a year in nearly 30 languages and dialects across King County. Founded in 1973, the Seattle-based agency makes available everything from mental health services and chemical dependency treatment to employment training and legal assistance. For seniors and the disabled, it provides in-home nursing services and counseling.