2014 Leaders in Health Care Awards: Outstanding Health Care Practitioner

Winner

J. Randall Curtis, M.D.
Director, UW Palliative Care Center of Excellence

Dr. Randy Curtis first impressions of the need for palliative care occurred during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. As with most medical students of his generation, it was a formative experience. I had the opportunity to see end-of-life care done very well in one room and just plain awfully in the next, he says. It made me think how to ensure we did it well every time and with every patient.

Curtis work as a critical care physician has given him plenty of chances to use palliative practices not only for terminal patients but also to give greater comfort to the seriously ill. His years of research and leadership have led to his newly launched Palliative Care Center of Excellence, which supports the work of 12 University of Washington faculty members.

In what was once a fringe field, Curtis has been a vocal advocate for caring for families of the seriously ill, which he says is often more important to patients than how they themselves are cared for. That development has led to huge changes, but the biggest, he notes, is I dont find myself having to defend the importance of this anymore.

Silver Awards

Sean Adelman, M.D.
Orthopedic Surgeon, Group Health Cooperative

As a specialist in shoulder and elbow injuries, Group Health orthopedist Dr. Sean Adelman watched the rising use of magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, with some skepticism. The diagnostic procedure is expensive and time consuming, requiring skilled analysis and follow-up. With the support of Group Health Research Institute, Adelman put his idea, that portable ultrasound could be used just as effectively, to a pilot test. His hunch proved correct, saving hundreds of dollars per patient with comparable results, and his methods are becoming standard at Group Health and elsewhere to help reduce the cost of quality care.

Elizabeth Loggers, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research
Center; Clinical Assistant Professor, UW School of Medicine; Assistant Investigator, Group Health Research Institute

Dr. Elizabeth Loggers wasnt the only physician struggling to understand her responsibilities under Washingtons new Death with Dignity Act, but as medical director of the Supportive and Palliative Care Service at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, she had more to figure out than most. She led development of responsible practices for physicians working with patients and families that chose to participate under the law. Their influential report, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2013, offers a model as other states adopt similar laws.