Message from the CEO

Dear Friends and Neighbors of EvergreenHealth,

In many ways these past few months have been even more challenging than the early days of the pandemic. The “5th Wave” of COVID-19 caused by the Delta variant has tested our patience and resilience as we looked expectantly to the end of this pandemic.

As 2021 comes to an end, we reflect on the lessons learned of enduring yet another year of the virus. The negative effect of isolation and the importance of connecting with others are clear examples. At EvergreenHealth, we’ve seen first-hand many of the physical and behavioral health challenges that result from people not staying connected with family, friends, co-workers and even their health care providers.

We’ve also seen how connecting and collaborating with a care team can be essential to maintaining or restoring your good health. In this issue of Monitor, we share a story of a healthy and vibrant 3-year-old who was born prematurely at 29 weeks, weighing less than a pound. You’ll also learn how the collaboration between EvergreenHealth and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance provides state-of-the-art, holistic cancer care to our local community and beyond. And, you will learn how working with a talented, multi-specialty team, such as the EvergreenHealth Weight Loss and Bariatric Care Clinic, can assist you in accomplishing your health and wellness goals.

Throughout this year, we’ve remained committed to providing safe, compassionate, high-quality care and service, and we are proud to share recent awards for this work. Healthgrades recognized EvergreenHealth as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals in five specialty areas. For the third year in a row, EvergreenHealth received an “A” rating from The Leapfrog Group, placing our health system among Washington’s top hospitals for safety and quality. Additionally, a publication evaluating quality and cost of care ranked EvergreenHealth #2 in the nation for providing best value to its patients. Without the connection and collaboration between our staff, physicians, volunteers and patients and their families, recognitions such as these would not be possible.

During this holiday season, please reflect on the importance of staying connected and collaborating in your own life. Working together and building relationships supports us in the present and provides hope for the future. Here’s to making 2022 a healthier and happier year, and perhaps, may it be so, an end to this pandemic!

Gratefully,

Jeff Tomlin, MD

EvergreenHealth Chief Executive Officer

We invite your feedback and questions. Contact us at patientrep@evergreenhealth.com

Jason Wood, MBA, MS

Chief Information Officer at Care That EvergreenHealth Connects Us

Over the last year-and-a-half, the world has often felt physically distant. Yet people everywhere—and certainly those in our broader EvergreenHealth community—have demonstrated remarkable resilience in our ability to collaborate and stay connected.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we, like most other health care providers across the globe, rapidly expanded our telehealth capabilities to effectively transition in-person health care appointments to a virtual setting. The quick pivot to virtual care not only protected the health safety of our patients and providers alike, but it also ensured that our patients didn’t delay important preventive care, health care screenings and chronic care management. As a result, as we resume in-person visits, we are seeing positive outcomes from those patients who were able to stay on track with their care.

At EvergreenHealth, our goal is to continue expanding access to quality health care by developing technology solutions that offer a seamless, integrated experience for patients and families across our health system. While shifting the traditional health care experience to an online setting was a critical move in ensuring continuity of care, we also recognize the opportunity to develop new, more innovative models that mirror the ways we all interact with digital tools in our daily lives.

One of the projects we’re working on in that vein is an upcoming move to Epic’s electronic health record platform. The technology that powers the way we share personal health information is as robust as ever, and we’re looking forward to rolling out new tools that simplify the way patients interact with their care team and manage their medical record.

As you’ll read in this issue of Monitor, we believe health care connects us all—it brings families together and strengthens partnerships between patients and their providers. This issue features the story of a 107-year-old EvergreenHealth patient who continues to stay connected with her family thanks to compassionate hospice care. You’ll also learn how our health system’s collaborative, continuity of care helped a Weight Loss and Bariatric Care patient successfully lose a life-saving amount of weight and regain her quality of life.

We’re grateful for our connection to you, our community. Whether you and your family are seeing your physician in-person or hopping onto a convenient virtual appointment this cold and flu season, we thank you for continuing to trust EvergreenHealth to deliver reliable, safe and the highest quality care and service.

Features

4 Miracles and Milestones: 100 Days in EvergreenHealth’s NICU

5 Designed With Future Families in Mind: New Women’s and Children's Units

6 107-Year-Old Longtime Kirkland Resident Shares Secrets to Longevity

8 Collaborative Cancer Care: Halvorson Cancer Center & Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

9 The Right Level of Care at the Right Time

10 Journey to a Better Life: EvergreenHealth Weight Loss & Bariatric Care

12 Connecting the Community to Vital Care

14 New Providers to Serve You

In Every Issue

2 Message from the CEO

16 Health Classes

18 EvergreenHealth Foundation