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At the Foundation, we are living out a vision to make Washington the best place to receive care and to practice medicine.

WSMA Foundation

The WSMA Foundation for Health Care Improvement is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. At the Foundation, we are living out a vision to make Washington the best place to receive care and to practice medicine.

Improving Physician Wellness and Patient Care

At the WSMA Foundation, we believe in a future where physicians are healthy and fulfilled; where physicians, the health care team, and patients are partners; and where all Washingtonians experience quality care that aligns with their needs, goals, and values.

Fulfilling that quest depends upon transformational change at all levels—individual, organizational, and statewide. We believe that change is possible, and that physicians and patients can thrive in health care settings that support them.

The Foundation exists today because of the vision of forward-thinking doctors who cared about—and invested in—the future of the profession more than 50 years ago.

With your participation and support, the WSMA Foundation ensures that legacy will continue to benefit physicians today… and tomorrow.

Your tax-deductible donations are an investment in yourself, your peers, and your profession. Thank you!

About the Foundation

WSMA Foundation logo

Our vision

We believe in a future where physicians are healthy and fulfilled; where physicians, the health care team, and patients are partners; and where all Washingtonians experience equitable, quality care that aligns with their needs, goals, and values.

Our mission

To create transformational health care change at all levels—individual, organizational, and statewide.

Our values

As a health care improvement foundation, we value:

  • Well-being: We promote the well-being of physicians so that we can fulfill our high calling of caring for our patients.
  • Health equity: We commit to health equity and eliminating disparities to improve health care in Washington.
  • Patient partnership: We uphold and respect the patient/physician partnership, creating equitable health care settings where conversations are mutual and care decisions are shared.
  • Compassion: We serve our patients, communities, and each other with compassion in the pursuit of wellness and equity for all Washingtonians.
  • Collaboration: We work with a diversity of stakeholders to generate high-impact equitable results that improve care in Washington state.
  • Legacy: We build upon the vision of forward-thinking physician leaders to ensure an equitable, thriving medical profession, and a healthy population.

Our goals

  • Strengthen physician wellness and restore the joy of practice.
  • Advance health equity in all communities.
  • Honor people’s goals, values, and preferences.

Board of directors and staff

Meet the board of directors and staff that govern and operate the WSMA Foundation for Health Care Improvement.

Healthy Doctors, Healthier Patients

Healthy Doctors, Healthier Patients logo

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.

Health Equity

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

Honoring Choices Pacific Northwest logo

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

Washington Serious Illness Care Coalition logo

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.

Contact information

WSMA Foundation for Health Care Improvement
2001 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2700
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: 206.441.9762
Fax: 206.441.5863
Email: foundation@wsma.org

Join or renew your membership today!