April 11, 1997
Memorial services scheduled for founding coordinator of medical school’s Spokane programs.
Dr. Robert Heskett, a pediatrician who in the 1970s established the Spokane programs of the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine, died April 9 in Spokane. He was 83.
Heskett served as coordinator of the UW Medical Education Office in Spokane from 1970 to 1982. He was instrumental in bringing together the many medical resources of his city and integrating them into the medical school’s academic plan.
Under his leadership, his city’s medical school programs grew from a few physicians teaching medical students to formally accredited clerkships (clinical training courses) in all of the primary-care specialties. In addition, he helped start residency programs in family medicine and general internal medicine. In the mid-1970s he testified on behalf of a state bill that created Washington’s family practice residency network. For 12 years he commuted to Seattle to represent eastern Washington on the medical school’s Admissions Committee.
“Over the course of many years, Dr. Heskett’s efforts were integral to formation of the successful model of medical education that we enjoy in our state and region today,” said Dr. John B. Coombs, acting vice president for medical affairs and acting dean of the UW medical school. “We have lost a true and enduring friend, indeed.”
“Dr. Heskett was a remarkable medical statesman worthy of the trust vested in him,” said dean emeritus of the UW medical school, Dr. Robert Van Citters, who had worked closely with Heskett. “He was all in all a friend of the UW medical school and a totally selfless person.”
A memorial service for Dr. Heskett will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 16, and a Mass for him will be said at 10 a.m., Thursday, April 17. Both will take place at St. Augustine’s Church, 428 West 19th Ave., Spokane. His wife, Anne, died in 1995, and his youngest son Bruce died in the Vietnam War. His sons John and Roger live in Spokane.
