 First Choice Health Home : Scribner Courage Award
ABRAHAM BERGMAN, MD
2008 SCRIBNER COURAGE IN HEALTH CARE AWARDEE
COMMUNITY CELEBRATION - SEPTEMBER 24, 2008
Dr. Abraham Bergman has been selected as the 2008 Awardee for his enormous
contributions to the health and welfare of American children, especially to children in the
Northwest. His career stands as a model for child advocacy. The Award will be presented at
a community celebration on the evening of September 24, 2008 (see below for details and
reservation information).
The Award
The Scribner Courage in Health Care Award is bestowed by First Choice Health and the
Washington Academy of Family Physicians to health care professionals who have made an
extraordinary contribution to the health of people in the Northwest through the exhibition
of personal courage. Emphasis is given to extraordinary service, innovation and professional
courage over time that has resulted in meaningful change and improvement in health care.
Any living health care professional doing his or her work primarily in Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
Alaska, or Montana is eligible for the award.
Background
Many physicians throughout the Northwest recognize the name of Dr. Belding Scribner, the
kidney dialysis pioneer. "Scrib" was a medical professor at the University of Washington
who developed the "Scribner Shunt" in the 1960s that changed terminal kidney failure
into a survivable condition and has since saved hundreds of thousands of lives the world over.
Scrib was honored in 2002 with the Lasker Award -- the American equivalent of the Nobel Prize
in Medicine. Still, he was a humble, entirely humane physician whose chief concern was always
for his patients.
Also a pioneer in bioethics, Scrib believed that research should be conducted for the public
good and that dialysis should be a community resource rather than a commodity. He was one of
those innovative medical scientists who dared to move beyond the bounds of current knowledge,
and in doing so became an inspiration to us all.
Several of us decided several years ago to make an example of Scrib by creating the Scribner
Courage in Health Care Awards program. A partnership between First Choice Health and the
Washington Academy of Family Physicians
(WAFP), the Scribner Awards program was created as a benefit for the
Northwest Kidney Centers
to recognize and inspire courage and innovation in health care.
Past Awardees
The first Scribner Award was presented in 2004 to Dr. Alvin Thompson, UW Clinical Professor
of Medicine and Past President of the Washington State Medical Association. Dr. Thompson received the
award for the courage he has demonstrated while enhancing health care for underserved communities
in our state. His community service and professional advocacy have provided inspiration and mentorship
to the medical community and aspiring health care professionals.
The second Scribner Award honoree, named in the Fall of 2006, was Dr. Robert Wood for
his long-term commitment to identifying, advocating and advancing the care for people with HIV/AIDS.
Dr. Wood was an early and articulate advocate for the recognition of HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and,
astonishing as it seems now, received death threats when he first brought the AIDS epidemic to light
in our community.
Today, he serves as Director of the HIV/AIDS Program for Public Health – Seattle & King County and
is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Presentation of the Award
The Scribner Courage in Health Care Award will be presented at a community event to be held on September 24, 2008.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Nassim Assefi,a renowned author and international physician
leader, speaking on "Courage in Adversity: Responding to the Public Health Impact of War – Stories from
Afghanistan and the Middle East".
Dr. Nassim Assefi, a 2nd generation Iranian-American, is an internist specializing in women’s health and global medicine.
Most recently, she has been an academic in Seattle, a humanitarian aid worker and salsa dance teacher in Kabul,
and an aspiring musician in Havana. She has traveled to more than 40 countries, and is based in Seattle when she
is not abroad. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, University of Washington Medical School, and Brigham
and Women’s residency program. She is the author of numerous scientific publications; Aria is her first novel.
She is currently writing a second novel set in post-conflict Afghanistan entitled "Say I Am You". She lives in
Istanbul with her husband Miguel.
Proceeds of this event will benefit the Northwest Kidney Centers, which Dr. Scribner helped found in 1962.
The award event will take place at the 'Harborside on Lake Union' in Seattle.
Invitations will be mailed in the Summer of 2008. To be placed on the invitation list,
please contact Marcie Wirtz at (206) 292-2771 Ext. 1107 or wirtzm@nwkidney.org.
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