March 5, 2009
‘Seattle Business’ magazine honors Michael Copass
Michael Copass, UW professor of neurology, recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Seattle Business (formerly Washington CEO) during the magazine’s first Leaders in Health Care recognition event. Copass was honored for his contributions to the field of emergency medicine, including the creation of a world-class trauma center at Harborview Medical Center, and for his leadership roles with Medic One and Airlift Northwest. Along with his medical achievements, the award highlights his passion to ensure that the “absolute best care” is provided to all patients, regardless of social or economic status.
Harborview was the unanimous choice of the judging panel for Outstanding Community Outreach. This award recognizes not only HMC’s role as the region’s safety-net hospital, but also Harborview’s programs for serving community needs beyond the walls of the hospital, such as health care for the homeless, housing and employment services for the mentally ill, and Community House Calls for bilingual outreach.
Other UW Medicine honorees included David Flum, UW professor of surgery, who received the award for Outstanding Health Care Professional. As director of the UW Surgical Outcomes Research Center, Flum is a leader in the effort to use outcomes data to improve surgical care. He also serves as medical director for the Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Program, a statewide initiative to implement a standardized surgical checklist at every hospital in Washington. In the Outstanding Health Care Executive category, Johnese Spisso, clinical operations officer for UW Medicine and UW vice president for medical affairs, was recognized as a runner up. The award winners are featured in the magazine’s March cover story.
