UW Medicine

Congratulations to Dr. Lisa Force, Assistant Professor in Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, at the University of Washington - School of Medicine. 

As Team USA physicians, Drs. Brian Krabak and Monique Burton are accompanying American swimmers and track and field competitors. Krabak is one of two physicians caring for the swim team, and Burton is one of two assigned to track and field. They are teammates, as well, at UW Medicine and Seattle Children's Hospital, where they often tend to sports-related injuries.

UW Medicine Information Technology Services (ITS) jumped into action to fix affected servers, applications and computers when the CrowdStrike technology outage caused disruptions for people and businesses around the world. The evening of July 18, a global technology outage hit sectors across the U.S., canceling flights, Starbucks orders and, at many hospitals and clinics, even patient care visits. The outage occurred from an update deployed by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and affected many systems and PCs with Windows-based hardware. Like other organizations worldwide using the software and Windows computers, UW Medicine had to react quickly. Thanks to UW Medicine Information Technology (IT) Services and UW Medicine’s business continuity planning, UW Medicine remained fully operational and patient care was not interrupted. By the afternoon of the following day, IT Services had fixed all 760 affected servers, brought patient-facing clinical applications back online and, over the weekend, restored more than 99% of the roughly 5,000 computers affected by the outage (all of which had to be restored individually). “I credit our teams who responded to this outage by working around the clock to restore our clinical systems and maintain uninterrupted patient care as well as our planning for business-disrupting events,” says Eric Neil, chief information officer of UW Medicine. “It’s why we were able to jump into action and maintain normal operations with minimal disruptions.” He also sees it as a learning opportunity, to find places where we can collaborate better across the system and improve procedures for the future. “We, as a system, are continuously prioritizing planning and response coordination, and it’s paying off for our patients,” says Danica Little, director of Preparedness for UW Medicine. Both Neil and Little express gratitude to the clinical teams in the hospitals and clinics. “They adapted quickly and were patient while systems were being restored,” says Neil.

The Center for Surgical Ethics at UW Medicine, promotes the highest standards of ethical care in surgery at both the patient and institutional levels. “Surgical ethics is a relatively new discipline,” says Andrew Wright, MD, co-chair of the center and a gastrointestinal surgeon at UW Medical Center. “UW Medicine has long been known as a premier center for medical ethics, and we hope to leverage our expertise in that area to benefit the surgery world.” The center is hosting its seventh annual Surgical Ethics Conference (Aug. 1-2) to equip participants to make competent ethical decisions in clinical situations. The hybrid event will feature live and Zoom lectures tailored to surgical specialties.

Congratulations to the physicians in our department who have been named a 2024 Seattle Magazine Top Doc: Pediatric Rehabilitation: ·       Elaine Tsao, MD, Assistant Professor Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation: ·       Stanley Herring, MD, Clinical Professor ·       Stephen Johnson, MD, Clinical Associate Professor ·       Ib Odderson, MD, PhD, Associate Professor ·       Neelwant Sandu, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Sports Medicine: ·       Omar Bhatti, MD, Clinical Associate Professor ·       Mark Harrast, MD, Clinical Professor ·       Brian Krabak, MD, Clinical Professor ·       Brian Liem, MD, Clinical Associate Professor ·       Cindy Lin, MD, Clinical Associate Professor Neurology: ·       Gloria von Geldern, MD (Neurology) Adjunct Associate Professor ·       Annette Wundes, MD (Neurology) Adjunct Professor Find the full list of Seattle Magazine Top Docs at https://lnkd.in/gGKgrftk UW Medicine

When Dr. Emily Godfrey counsels a patient who has had a miscarriage, the first thing she stresses is that miscarriages are common. And the patient is not alone; this isn’t her fault. Then Godfrey explains the options the patient can choose from. Recently, Godfrey, a UW Medicine OB-GYN and family medicine physician, helped produce a TED-Ed YouTube channel video that focuses on this messaging, while correcting misinformation and myths about miscarriages as well as what treatments are available and should be available to all women. “Despite how common it is, miscarriage can still feel isolating, and for some, emotionally traumatizing,” Godfrey said. “The current political climate and state laws can add an unnecessary element of fear on top of that feeling of isolation, just as a patient may try to seek treatment.”

We are deeply saddened to announce the passing on Friday, July 26, of Dr. Michael K. Copass, a pioneer in emergency medicine and a cherished member of our community. Dr. Copass, 86, dedicated his career to saving lives and advancing the field of emergency medical care, leaving an indelible mark on all who had the privilege of working with him.

Women are an important part of our workforce, making up approximately 67% of our organization. All three of UW Medicine’s hospitals are led by women. Recently, UW Medicine ranked in the top 5% in the nation as a 2024 Best Employer for Women by Forbes. Forbes’ ranking of America’s Best Employers for Women is released annually to help people identify companies that support women in leadership roles, address the gender wage gap, and create a more equitable workplace for women. “From an HR perspective, we conduct pay equity analyses for jobs and provide resources and support for life at work and beyond,” says Nicki McCraw, assistant vice president of Human Resources at UW Medicine. “Across UW Medicine, work is being done to improve equity, support well-being, address bias, and continue to make UW Medicine a top-choice employer.”

We're thrilled to announce that a number of UW Medicine physicians have made it to Seattle magazine's 2024 roster of Top Doctors! See the full list: https://bit.ly/3zXNTye

Last week, in a special celebratory ceremony, the next generation of future physicians were presented with their stethoscopes. This new University of Washington - School of Medicine class will now embark on four years of exploring and encountering the medical field and local communities during their medical training. Congratulations! We can’t wait to see all you do in the years to come! 📷: Tara Brown Photography 🔁: University of Washington - School of Medicine