Scott Barnhart named medical director at Harborview

Scott Barnhart

Dr. Scott Barnhart, associate professor of medicine, has been named medical director of Harborview Medical Center and associate dean of the UW School of Medicine. Barnhart was appointed by Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, and David Jaffe, Harborview executive director. His appointment is effective July 1, pending approval by the UW Board of Regents.

Barnhart, who is director of the UW’s Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program, succeeds Dr. James Lo Gerfo, UW professor of medicine, who has served as Harborview’s medical director since 1988.

As medical director, Barnhart will provide clinical leadership at Harborview, the region’s only Level I adult and pediatric trauma center. Harborview, along with UW Medical Center, participates in the teaching and clinical research activities of the UW Academic Medical Center — including the UW School of Medicine, which provides medical training for citizens from a five-state region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho). Harborview is owned by the citizens of King County and managed by the UW.

Barnhart, 47, has been a member of the UW medical faculty since 1982, and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine faculty since 1987. In addition to his academic appointment in the medical school’s Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, he is an associate professor of environmental health in the School of Public Health.

He graduated from St. Lawrence College in Canton, N.Y., in 1973 and received his M.D. from George Washington University in 1979. He came to the UW as a resident in 1979 and served as chief medical resident at Swedish Hospital Medical Center in 1981-82. He received a master’s degree in public health from the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine in 1986.

“I am very pleased that Dr. Barnhart has agreed to serve in this important leadership capacity within the University of Washington Academic Medical Center,” said Ramsey. “Scott’s experience and skills are a perfect match for the demands of this position.”

Jaffe praised Barnhart’s abilities to lead Harborview into the next century. “We will miss the leadership and unwavering commitment that Jim Lo Gerfo brought to the position,” Jaffe said. “He set an incredibly high standard that we are confident Scott will continue.”

“The Board is very enthusiastic about the leadership Dr. Barnhart brings to this position,” said Tom Ranken, president of the Harborview Board of Trustees. “As a physician and a community leader, he will enable Harborview to continue in its mission of providing high-quality health care to citizens in King County and throughout the Northwest.”

In addition to his numerous UW and Harborview committee memberships, Barnhart is a member of the American College of Physicians, American Thoracic Society and American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Barnhart also serves as a member of the Seattle School Board, having been re-elected in December 1995. ¶