THE POWER OF HOPE

Hope. It is the governing principle that motivates the scientists, clinicians, and teachers who work at UW medicine. They believe that teaching, research, and caring for others will help make the world a better place.

People who come to UW Medicine for treatment feel the strength of this belief. Patients feel it when clinicians who are leaders in their field offer them promising new therapies. They feel it in the collaboration among the experts on their health-care team, and in the compassionate care they receive. The generous supporters of UW Medicine also feel the strength of this belief. They share the conviction that UW Medicine can make lives healthier for the local community, the region, and the world. They also see that UW Medicines activities help strengthen the economic health of the Pacific Northwest. As an employer, as a magnet for business and industry, and as a world leader in many emerging areas of research, UW Medicine has a significant influence on the Pacific Northwests economy.

In the past year, supporters gave generously to a broad range of funds at UW Medicine. This support is more important than most people realize. Many are surprised when they learn that only 5 percent of UW Medicine funding comes from the state of Washington. And while federal funding is essential for ongoing biomedical research, it is not intended for testing new ideas. Innovation is propelled by private support. Here are a few of the ways contributors are fostering UW Medicines leadership in patient care and innovation in research and education:

RESEARCH

UW Medicine received generous support in the past year for urgently needed research space. This support included gifts and pledges to launch UW Medicine Lake Union, a research hub located near downtown Seattle. Private contributions totaling $93 million, including a $70 million gift from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, made possible the construction of two on-campus facilities for the departments of bioengineering and genome sciences. These buildings, combined with UW Medicine Lake Union, will increase UW Medicine's research space by 50 percent, helping to keep UW Medicine at the forefront of scientific discovery.


TEACHING

UW Medicine is a visionary in medical education. WWAMI (an acronym for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) is a regional program created here in the 1970s that has become a national model for training new doctors to practice in rural towns and in other places lacking physicians.

UW Medicine continues to set new standards in education. This year the School of Medicine began a revised curriculum that emphasizes mentorship and individual attention to students. Faculty members recognized as excellent teachers have designed changes that ensure that UW medical school graduates are not only skilled practitioners, but also good communicators who put their patients needs first.

To sustain its leadership role, the School of Medicine must continue to attract the nations finest students. Private support is crucial to this effort. Thanks to contributors, UW Medicine is building its endowed scholarship funds. This year, UW Medicine supporters contributed $2.9 million to student scholarships and financial aid.

Many of these contributors are UW School of Medicine alumni. Dr. Lloyd C. Elam, who in 1957 became one of the first African-American graduates of the School of Medicine, is such a donor. He and his wife, Clara Elam, made generous contributions to a minority student scholarship in the hope of benefiting not only the student recipients, but also the communities they later will serve.


PATIENT CARE

Central to UW Medicines mission is providing patients with expert, compassionate care. This year, UW Medicine donors gave $1.8 million to support patient care. Their gifts are used in many ways: to bring comfort, to help patients families in times of crisis, and to deliver outstanding health care to patients from all walks of life.

	Patients and their families have made significant contributions to UW Medicine out of gratitude for the care they received. After Vibhas Chandorkar underwent organ transplant surgery at UW Medical Center, he and his wife, Arundhati Chandorkar, made a generous gift in 2003 as a way of thanking the entire transplant team and of providing comfort to others undergoing transplants. The faculty, students, residents, staff, and volunteers at UW Medicine are grateful to all who share their hope for a better world and so generously support their work.