WSMA Foundation

Ours is a caring profession—it only makes sense to care for ourselves in order to ensure we are well enough to care for others.

We know that the external pressures heaped upon physicians by government, insurance companies, and regulatory entities steal time from patient care. We know that you’re often told you are burned out (“it’s your responsibility to fix it”), rather than leaders and systems acknowledging that they are overwhelming medical staff and employees (“it’s our responsibility to fix it together”).

The WSMA Foundation is collaboratively identifying best practices to:

• Improve physician and physician assistant well-being at work and reduce burnout;
• Invite health care organizations and systems to pledge to meet the criteria; and
• Deliver professional development on emotional intelligence in health care leadership along with providing strategies to recognize burnout and support teams and peers.

It’s time to act. Our patients trust us to provide the best care that’s right for them. Their lives—and ours—depend on it.

Caring for others means providing equitable care for all. Physicians and physician assistants play a key role in building a future where culturally sensitive care and a physician population that reflects the patients it serves is our reality.

Health equity education, clinical transformation, and community support

As we strive to address gaps in health equity through education and clinical transformation, the WSMA Foundation is hosting a Health Equity Leadership Development and Action Collective, in addition to a new Health Equity M&M series. Further, a new quality improvement program shares best practices and guidelines on assuring high-quality and culturally sensitive care for specific conditions that disproportionately affect diverse communities.

We know that relationships of trust with diverse communities can help mitigate the harm of racism and improve care. To that end, the WSMA Foundation is helping physicians and PAs build authentic relationships through mentorship, education, and community support programs.

The Scholarship and Diversity Advancement Fund

And to build a more diverse physician population in Washington state, the WSMA Foundation is launching a scholarship and fellowship program for students who are racially underrepresented in medicine.

Let’s be the change we wish to see and deliver equitable health outcomes for every Washingtonian.

Honoring Choices Pacific Northwest, jointly sponsored by WSMA Foundation and the Washington State Hospital Association, is an initiative to inspire conversations about the care people want at the end of life. The vision is that everyone will receive care that honors personal values and goals at the end of life.

This comprehensive enterprise uses a variety of approaches, including an advance care planning program, community engagement, physician and advanced practitioner education, and advocacy. It works at multiple levels to help the public make informed choices about end-of-life care and to train health care and community organizations on how to discuss, record, and honor people’s end-of-life choices.

When individuals talk about advance care planning, write it down, and share it around, they are much more likely to have their preferences followed.

Generous contributions from hospitals, health systems, medical groups, insurance companies, foundations, and individuals ensure everyone in our service area who want to participate can. More information can be found at honoringchoicespnw.org, as well as Facebook (@HonoringChoicesPNW) and Twitter (@HCPNW).

Washington Serious Illness Care Coalition

The WSMA Foundation also supports the Washington Serious Illness Care Coalition and the POLST Task Force, which is a broad-based group of individuals and organizations from across the state dedicated to helping patients, clinicians, and caregivers improve the way we discuss, prepare for, and treat serious illness.