2013 Leaders in Health Care, Outstanding Health Care Practitioner

WINNER:

Dr. Robert Thompson, Valley Medical Center/Renton RotaCare Clinic
The Renton Rotary RotaCare Clinic operates under the auspices of the Rotary Club but owes its existence to the family practice physician known popularly as Dr. Bob.

Robert Thompson had long taken an interest in how difficult it could be for the uninsured or underinsured to get care, ever since the inner-city residency of his youth. A rotation in obstetrics showed him how poor access put female patients at risk of complications during pregnancy. During subsequent years in practice, he often saw how unemployment and chronic medical conditions went hand in hand. After observing how a Rotary Club-sponsored clinic in Bellevue was helping to alleviate these situations, Thompson worked with the service organization, along with Renton Technical College and the Salvation Army, to create a similar clinic in Renton. Since its opening in 2003, more than 3,000 uninsured patients have received treatment at the Renton RotaCare, where about two dozen family practice physicians (including Dr. Bob) and internal medicine clinicians volunteer their time on Saturday mornings throughout the year. Rotary covers much of the cost of patients prescription medications, and Valley Medical Center, where Thompson is an executive manager, provides free lab and imaging services.

The effort further inspired Thompson to create a volunteer specialty clinic on the VMC campus, offering orthopedic services.

Patterned on the King County Project Access program at Swedish Medical Center, the clinic helps patients, many of whom are still in their prime working years, deal with joint injuries or severe arthritis.

When a group of pastors near Tukwila called Thompson for help setting up a small, faith-based clinic in their area, he was eager to help them as well. The New Hope Health Center in Burien provides a medical home for treatment of chronic conditions and for education around diabetes and hypertension.

Even with changes from health care reform, Thompson still expects universal access to care to be an issue. Reflecting on that reality, he says, Itd be nice to be out of business, wouldnt it?

SILVER AWARDS:

Jane Dimer, M.D., Chief of Womens Health, Group Health Cooperative
Group Healths embrace of community-based midwives into its Family Beginnings Birthing Center team was fostered by Jane Dimer, the cooperatives chief of womens health since 2006. The team-focused collaboration with obstetricians, nurses and residents caused the number of caesarean births at Group Health to be among the lowest in Washington state, a nationally recognized achievement. Dimer has also been an international advocate for reproductive health, traveling to Vietnam and Laos with the U.S. State Department to teach and learn.

Anthony Back, M.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
In an environment of clinically focused research, Anthony Back stands out as an oncologist as concerned with his relationship with patients as with their physical condition. The expert in colorectal, esophageal, liver, pancreatic and stomach cancer is a firm advocate for respectful patient communication, the better to involve them actively in determining their own care. Back has published broadly on the techniques and benefits of attentive patient care, and schooled hundreds of physicians as well.