The public hospital mission at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center: high-quality care for the underserved and excellence in medical education.
United States public hospitals and medical schools commonly enter into partnerships that serve the patient care, education, and research missions of both institutions. Harborview Medical Center, the county hospital in Seattle, Washington, and the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) have enjoyed a long affiliation that began at the medical school's founding 60 years ago. A formal agreement in 1967 turned over responsibility for all Harborview operations to UWSOM at a time when Harborview's facilities had fallen into serious disrepair and public hospitals were closing across the United States. All faculty and staff based at Harborview are employed by the University of Washington. By the mid-1970s a revitalization was underway at Harborview. The Medic One paramedic program drew national acclaim for pioneering prehospital emergency cardiac care, and the trauma and burn centers grew rapidly to meet specialized intensive care needs of the Pacific Northwest. Today, the success of the trauma, specialty surgery, and rehabilitation services have allowed Harborview to consistently maintain a positive operating margin while caring for the county's uninsured and indigent patients ($98 million in charity care in 2005). The hospital also offers nationally recognized residency programs and supports nationally and internationally acclaimed research. Harborview faces significant challenges for the future, including rapid growth of the indigent patient load, continually changing expectations for physician training, and growing cost pressures.