UW Medicine Announces $2 Billion Fundraising Campaign

SEATTLE, Oct. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- UW Medicine today announced the public launch of a major fundraising campaign in support of its mission to improve the health of the public. Accelerate: The Campaign for UW Medicine seeks to raise $2 billion for research, education and patient care by 2020. It is part of the University of Washington's largest philanthropic campaign ever, which was also announced today: Be Boundless: For Washington, For the World.

"While many people are living longer and healthier lives thanks to modern medicine, there is an urgent need to do more," said Dr. Paul Ramsey, chief executive officer of UW Medicine. "With the generous support of our community, the campaign will accelerate our work to discover new cures and treatments for diseases, better train the next generation of healthcare professionals and develop new models for high-quality and affordable patient care."

The campaign will focus on 12 priority areas ranging from global health to cancer research, from protein design to medical education, and from healthy aging to mental health. These priorities have been selected because they address those discoveries that will most benefit human health, and they are areas in which UW Medicine is a national or international leader. 

"We are grateful to our many campaign volunteers and donors for their personal commitment and continued philanthropy in support of our mission," said Don Theophilus, chief advancement officer for UW Medicine. "As we move into the public phase of the campaign, we look forward to sharing stories about the amazing advances in science and medicine that are happening today in UW Medicine's research labs, classrooms and clinical settings."

Community leaders who are serving on the campaign's executive council include Tom and Sue Ellison, Michael and Lynn Garvey, Charlotte Guyman, Julie Nordstrom and John Stanton. Since the beginning of the campaign in 2010, UW Medicine has received nearly $1.1 billion toward its goal.

For more information, including campaign priorities, donor stories and videos, please visit: acceleratemed.org.

About UW Medicine
UW Medicine is one of the top-rated academic medical systems in the world. With a mission to improve the health of the public, UW Medicine educates the next generation of physicians and scientists, leads one of the world's largest and most comprehensive medical research programs, and provides outstanding care to patients from across the globe. UW Medicine's four hospitals – Harborview Medical Center, Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, University of Washington Medical Center and Valley Medical Center – admit more than 63,000 patients each year. A network of hospital-based and outpatient clinics, including 12 UW Neighborhood Clinics, provides care for more than 1.3 million patients each year.

The UW School of Medicine, part of the UW Medicine system, leads the internationally recognized, community-based WWAMI Program, serving the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The School of Medicine has been ranked No. 1 in the nation in primary-care training for more than 20 years by U.S. News & World Report.

UW Medicine has 26,000 employees and an annual budget of nearly $5 billion. Also part of the UW Medicine system are Airlift Northwest and the UW Physicians practice group, the largest physician practice plan in the region. UW Medicine shares in the ownership and governance of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children's, and also shares in ownership of Children's University Medical Group with Seattle Children's.

For more information, visit uwmedicine.org.
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Media contact
Name: Susan Gregg
UW Medicine / Media Relations
206.616.6730 or 206.390.3226 / [email protected]

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SOURCE UW Medicine