Your Health: Today and Beyond

From computers to science, Paul Allen led a life focused on innovation. It’s a commitment that continues even after he succumbed to his long battle with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

"Paul was cared for his entire cancer experience at Swedish Cancer Institute, and at the time of his passing, he gave a gift of gratitude to Swedish and a charge, and the charge was really profound and simple at the same time. It was to change the experience for every patient. And so when you really boil it down, research is the way that we improve the tools we have to treat and our knowledge of how best to use the tools, so we focused the gift on research,” said Douglas Kieper, Director of the Paul G. Allen Research Center.

The Paul G. Allen Research Center will not only enable patients at Providence Swedish to get the most contemporary treatments possible, but it will also allow their in-house physician researchers to accomplish more.

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A group of new caregivers are huddled around a hospital bed waiting for the birth of a new baby. But this is not a real birth. This is a simulation – one of hundreds the healthcare provider does for training purposes every year. 

The Providence Swedish simulation center is located on the Cherry Hill campus. It is an 11,000 square foot high fidelity simulation center that has focused on training nurse, residents and fellows through their residency program since 2014.

"The simulations that they're doing are what we call high stakes, low-frequency events," Zach Eastwood, manager of Providence Swedish Simulation Center said. "Things that might take months or even years to witness in real life, we can do them here in the simulation center."

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One of the ways Providence Swedish is meeting the needs of its patients in Snohomish County is a facility dedicated to those dealing with a mental health crisis.

"This is our Behavioral Health Urgent Care Clinic, which is a very unique service that we provide to our community members. It really acts as a same-day walk-in access for behavioral health urgent needs for our patients," said Hansen. "We wanted a better way to capture some of the behavioral health heightened needs of our patient population and really meet them at the right level of care."

At their primary care clinics, the caregiver is also taking a proactive approach to behavioral health by integrating mental health services into routine medical exams.

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Even from a young age, Sauleiha Akangbe knew what she was born to do.

"When my mom used to sit us down and ask us what we would want to do when we grew up, I would always say I wanted to work with the moms and babies," she said.

Akangbe's long career as a doula and caregiver has been rewarding. But with Black women in the US being three to four times more likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth than any other race, she wanted to do more. So, with support from the Providence Health Equity Fund, she founded the Justice, Unity, Support, Trust Birth Network.

"J.U.S.T. Birth comes from the black birth empowerment initiative, which was started back in 2020, and came from a deep and personal experience that I had myself," Akangbe said. "I do just want to say that many of our doulas have lived experiences that our patients experience as well within the hospital systems. And so it was about recognizing that and really getting back to what it is that we needed to do of empowering our doulas our community, our providers, our patients, who all fall within the black, native, bipoc races and ethnicities and really empowering them."

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For most of their life, Keyana Buckner struggled to find their place in the world.

"I spent my early years as a lesbian kind of presenting in a more masculine way. That's where I felt comfortable," said Buckner. "Most of my life, I felt different. I never had the language to say trans up until I was 34. I didn't even know I was trans until my 30’s. I think the reason why I'm here now and considering myself trans is because there's a new experience. And that experience is that I am not fully comfortable in this body anymore. I want to live the rest of my life in a body that feels more me."

To help with their transition, Buckner was referred to the medical staff at Swedish First Hill Family Medicine.

"Coming to a clinic or coming to any kind of health care institution can be a very nerve-wracking experience for LGBTQ+ patients," said Dr. Kevin Wang, Medical Director for Swedish Health Services LGBTQ+ Program.

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This is probably the largest expansion that we've taken on as an organization. This is our North Tower project. So basically, it is an expansion of our First Hill campus," said Dr. Elizabeth Wako, President and CEO of Swedish Health Services. "It is a deep commitment and investment in the Seattle community, so we're incredibly excited to be able to deliver it.”

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To watch the full special presentation click here.

Sponsored by Providence Swedish