Spinal surgery got Kelli back on her feet
Avid hiker Amanda’s vision is clearer than ever after cataract surgery
Heal Itself
A revolutionary new treatment for ACL injuries & 2023 Community Annual Report
Special introduction from Kirkland Mayor Kelli Curtis
Recognizing EvergreenHealth providers, staff and volunteers who exemplify Compassion, Respect, Excellence, Collaboration and Accountability. > Read more on page 4.
Dear neighbors,
Welcome! After many years of reading inspiring patient stories, celebrating community milestones and learning about innovations in health care within these pages, it’s my sincere privilege to welcome you to our latest issue of Monitor for the first time as EvergreenHealth CEO. I’ve had the privilege of serving the patients of EvergreenHealth over the last 20 years, and during that time, our hospital system has served as a vital resource for families across the region, including mine. As our hospital system and community have grown, I’ve seen firsthand how EvergreenHealth and our amazing staff have remained committed to being your communityowned, independent hospital.
I see that commitment in our team’s focus on providing exceptional care and service in an environment of absolute safety, which has helped us earn recognition by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals –an achievement that places us in the top 1% of hospitals nationwide.
While recognitions like this are certainly an honor and are an important demonstration of our commitment to excellence, the more meaningful metric is often the impact our care can make in our patients’ lives.
In this issue you’ll meet patients whose quality of life was restored by our expert medical teams, including Kelli, who is living pain-free after spinal surgery to treat a herniated disc; Joe, who is back to his active lifestyle after a revolutionary new treatment for a torn ACL; and Amanda, who is seeing clearly after a successful cataract surgery restored her vision.
Beyond treating patients who come to EvergreenHealth for care, we are dedicated to improving the health of our Eastside community, which you’ll see throughout our enclosed 2023 Community Annual Report.
Read more about our levy-funded programs and partnerships, review our financial report, and see the donors and sponsors who invested in community health in 2023.
It is our privilege to serve our Eastside community, and we extend our sincere thanks for your continued partnership. On behalf of everyone here at EvergreenHealth, we look forward to a bright and healthy future as we continue to grow together.
In good health,
Ettore Palazzo, MD CEO, EvergreenHealth
On behalf of the Kirkland City Council, I’m delighted to welcome you to this latest issue of Monitor. I hope this finds you well and in good health as we round out 2024.
Every two years, the City of Kirkland surveys our residents to gauge satisfaction for the various services and programs we provide our community. We’ve been conducting this survey for over a decade, and the results give critical insight to the City Council, staff, and public on how well the City of Kirkland is doing its job. I can say anecdotally from my various conversations and correspondence with our amazing community members that folks love Kirkland. However, I was delighted to learn just how positively folks feel about Kirkland and our area.
Results show that 95% of residents like living in Kirkland. When asked what it is they like best, the top responses were the people and the community. As a longtime Kirkland resident, it comes as no surprise that – despite our phenomenal parks, thriving businesses, fantastic health care, and amazing schools – it’s the people that make Kirkland and our region such a beloved place.
As an environmental horticulturalist and former Master Gardener, I can’t help but rely on nature-based metaphors. The City Council’s role is like that of a gardener. Gardeners can’t make a garden thrive – they can only make the conditions right. And what we heard in our survey results is that Kirkland is a flourishing garden of a community.
We are blessed to benefit from the environmental, social, and economic seeds planted by those who came before us. We are lucky to enjoy the legacies of visionary leaders who made wise choices and an engaged community that welcomes all. We owe them for beautiful waterfront parks and safe streets, our great schools, and the thriving new Village at Totem Lake. And we owe them for the top-notch health care provided by institutional partners like EvergreenHealth, diligently serving both our immediate community and our region for decades.
Whether you are new to Kirkland or a lifelong local, thank you for being a part of our flourishing community!
All the very best,
Kelli Curtis Mayor, City of Kirkland
We invite your feedback and questions. Contact us at patientrep@evergreenhealth.com
Nothing is more important than ensuring every patient receives the best clinical outcomes, in the safest environment and with the most compassionate personal attention. At EvergreenHealth, we provide this level of care thanks to the exceptional work and service of our more than 5,000 providers, employees and volunteers.
The EvergreenHealth Living Our Values awards were created to honor individuals and teams within our hospital system community who exemplify our values – Compassion, Respect, Excellence, Collaboration and Accountability – in providing exceptional care and service.
Award winners, who are nominated by their EvergreenHealth peers, patients and the broader community, embody these values in their interactions with patients and visitors as well as each other.
We recently honored Connie Mak from Environmental Services, who has been with EvergreenHealth for nearly 18 years. Connie is a flexible, valuable staff member who ensures tasks are done right and follows up diligently. She trains and sets a good example for colleagues, emphasizing the best experience for patients and visitors. Congratulations, Connie Mak!
Did a physician, staff member, volunteer or clinical team help make your visit to EvergreenHealth memorable? Nominate them for a Living Our Values award.
A revolutionary new treatment for ACL injuries gave Joe his active life back
For Joe, downhill skiing is more than just a hobby. “I live to ski,” says the 61-year-old Bellevue resident.
Last winter, Joe had already been skiing 21 times that season when he found himself braving windy conditions at Crystal Mountain. As he maneuvered through a patch of icy snow, he heard – and felt – a crunch. He knew he’d torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL): “It was like snapping asparagus.”
Within a few days, Joe was referred to Dr. Camille Clinton, a fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon at EvergreenHealth Orthopedics & Sports Care. “I liked her immediately,” Joe said, describing her as approachable, scientifically knowledgeable and warm.
After an initial evaluation, it was clear that Joe was a candidate for traditional ACL surgical restoration, a time-tested procedure that has been the standard of care for decades.
However, Joe was also a candidate for a new ACL-repair procedure, known as the Bridge-Enhanced® ACL Restoration (BEAR®) Implant. Performed by only a few surgeons in Washington, the BEAR implant procedure represents one of the most significant advances in ACL tear treatment in more than 30 years.
According to Dr. Clinton, what makes the BEAR implant unique is its ability to facilitate the body’s own healing of the torn ligament. The procedure uses a bio-engineered collagen implant injected with the patient’s own blood to act as a bridge between the two ends of the torn ACL. This enhances and improves the environment for ACL healing. As the patient recovers, the body fuses the ACL back together, and the implant is harmlessly absorbed by the body as the ACL heals. There are certain criteria patients must meet to be a good candidate for the procedure, including a recent ACL injury and having enough of the ACL still attached to the bone. It is also
Dr. Camille Clinton
Puget Sound Business Journal’s 2023 Surgeon of the Year
Dr. Camille Clinton is one of the few female fellowshiptrained orthopedic surgeons practicing in the Pacific Northwest. In 2023, she was honored as “Surgeon of the Year” at the Puget Sound Business Journal’s annual Healthcare Leadership Awards. Dr. Clinton was recognized alongside 10 other health care leaders in the Puget Sound region, including retiring EvergreenHealth CEO Dr. Jeff Tomlin, who were each selected for their contributions to uplifting the community and propelling the health care field toward innovation and high-caliber care.
What makes the BEAR implant unique is its ability to facilitate the body’s own healing of the torn ligament. The current standard of care for reconstructing a torn ACL is to use a donor tendon or a tendon from another area of the patient’s body – requiring a second surgical site – to use as a tissue graft to replace the ruptured ligament. Alternatively, the BEAR procedure uses a bio-engineered collagen implant injected with the patient’s own blood to act as a bridge between the two ends of the torn ACL. The surgeon injects a small amount of blood into the implant and inserts it between the torn ends of the ACL in a minimally invasive arthroscopic procedure. The combination of the BEAR implant and the patient’s blood enables the body to fuse the torn ends of the ACL back together while maintaining the ACL’s original attachments to the femur and tibia. The BEAR implant is then harmlessly absorbed by the body as the ACL heals.
important for patients to understand the potential benefits of the BEAR procedure but also that it is new and has less postrecovery data than standard ACL reconstruction.
Luckily, Joe proved to be a great candidate, and it’s now been 18 months since his BEAR implant procedure. He couldn’t be happier with the results.
“Today I’m able to do everything that I would normally do,” he says. “It’s almost as if the injury didn’t happen.”
Learn more about Dr. Clinton and sports medicine at www.neuro-spine-ortho.com
Today, avid hiker Amanda’s vision is clearer than ever
When Woodinville resident Amanda and her husband went on a vacation to Mexico, they were excited to celebrate their anniversary and get away for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, their trip hit a speedbump when Amanda experienced a tear in her left retina, causing a vitreous bleed which made it impossible for her to see out of her left eye. She was able to have surgery to repair the tear, but having dealt with eye concerns in the past, she knew it likely wouldn’t be the last time she needed surgery on her eyes. Additional bleeds and complications led to a fastgrowing cataract in her left eye.
As a speech and language pathologist, Amanda runs her own practice treating children for learning and language disabilities and dyslexia. Her vision is essential for her work, not to mention every other aspect of her life.
Cataracts occur when the eye’s lens becomes clouded due to the breaking down of proteins. This can cause blurred or hazy vision and lead to seeing less color. The only treatment for cataracts is surgery, which involves replacing the natural lens with an artificial lens.
When Amanda’s vision in her left eye worsened, her eye doctor said she’d have to get surgery. She also learned that she had a smaller cataract in her right eye.
“I needed to find a surgeon, so I started asking around,” Amanda said. “My friend’s parents, who had undergone cataract surgery, spoke highly of Dr. Sara Huh with EvergreenHealth. Once I got in with her, I was so relieved. She was excellent, educating me on what cataract surgery is, the lenses we could use and what I could expect after my surgery. I knew immediately that I’d found my surgeon.”
Once she was scheduled, Amanda said the process was seamless, receiving cataract surgery on each eye within two weeks.
“Cataracts can negatively impact your health beyond just vision,” said Dr. Huh. “Recent studies have linked cataracts to an increased risk of developing dementia. That’s why it’s so important for everyone to receive regular eye exams and get treatment as soon as possible.”
Since her surgery, Amanda’s vision has not only returned to what it was, but objects far away are much crisper than they’ve ever been.
“I’m an avid hiker and love to backpack with my husband, but I never realized how much I missed looking at the mountains and scenery we come across,” said Amanda. “I’ve had glasses and contacts, but it’s amazing how much better my distance vision is with the new lenses.”
Find more information about EvergreenHealth Eye Care, including details about cataract treatment at www.evergreenhealth.com/health-services/eye-care
When a herniated disc prevented Kelli from living life to the fullest, EvergreenHealth helped her get back on her feet
When Kelli Eakle, a certified medical assistant at Seattle Children’s, woke up one morning in June 2023, she knew something was wrong.
She felt a radiating pain in her left leg and buttock, and at first wondered if she had slept wrong. When the pain didn’t subside, Kelli tried at-home remedies like ice, heat and over-the-counter medication. But the pain persisted, and she sought help from her longtime primary care doctor, Kimberly Liu, DO, at EvergreenHealth Primary Care, Redmond Bella Bottega. An MRI showed a herniated disc in Kelli’s lower back.
Starting with a conservative approach, Kelli did three months of physical therapy and at-home exercises. Next she received spinal injections at EvergreenHealth Sport & Spine Care, which can often bring relief to patients with herniated discs.
Despite her diligence, she saw very little improvement, and her quality of life was declining. At that point, Kelli met with neurosurgeon Ryder Gwinn, MD, to discuss spinal surgery.
“My appointment with Dr. Gwinn gave me hope,” Kelli said. “He was very knowledgeable, and after looking at my MRI, he knew that it was something he could fix with surgery. I decided to move forward with surgery, feeling confident in his expertise and knowing I was in good hands.”
Dr. Gwinn determined that Kelli’s symptoms were consistent with what he was seeing on her MRI and developed a surgical plan to address the herniated disc and her pain.
Kelli had surgery on February 28, 2024. She was excited about feeling better, but felt nervous on the day of the procedure. She met with Dr. Gwinn and Jennifer Harbors, PA-C, before the procedure. “They were able to calm my nerves and I felt at ease.”
The procedure, a hemilaminectomy and microdiscectomy, is a minimally invasive procedure that removes the small piece of the patient’s spinal disc that is pressing into the nerve root.
After the procedure, Kelli felt immediate relief. “I walked out of there the same day feeling like a new woman,” she said.
Dr. Gwinn credits all of the work the EvergreenHealth team did leading up to and during the procedure for its success. “Kelli’s early physical therapy and spinal injections, while they didn’t provide lasting relief, were helpful to ensure that we were looking at the right spot for her treatment. The surgery was very straightforward, and her recovery was very fast,” he said.
Today, Kelli no longer feels the pain that debilitated her for months. After two surgical follow-ups to confirm she is on the road to recovery, Kelli reports she feels 99.9% better.
“Each and every person that I came into contact with at EvergreenHealth has been nothing but amazing, caring, knowledgeable and very kind to me,” Kelli said. “I am so thankful that I can get back to walking my dogs with no pain, playing with my grandson, and just having a normal life.”
Learn more about Dr. Gwinn and spine surgery at www.neuro-spine-ortho.com
“ I was very emotional about how my quality of life had decreased from the pain I was enduring, and they were so sympathetic. I had wanted to avoid surgery if I could, but I knew I was in good hands, and I’m so glad I went through with it.”
Our services offer easy access to expertdeveloped programs and classes for everyone in our community on a wide variety of everyday and specialized health and wellness topics.
To learn class schedules and locations, visit www.evergreenhealth.com/classes-events.
Pre-registration is required for all classes. For your convenience, you may register and pay for classes online.
Wellness and Healthy Living
Promotes healthy lifestyles and activities that support your well-being.
Safety Education and Training
Provides life-saving skills to community members who are not clinical providers. Topics include CPR, First Aid, Babysitting Skills and Basic Life Support.
Provides people and their families with education on various strategies to cope with and manage the impacts of a chronic disease.
Neurological and Movement Disorders
EvergreenHealth Neurological Care offers exercise classes and support groups to aid patients living with a variety of neurological diseases and movement disorders.
Cancer Lifeline at EvergreenHealth supports patients and caregivers through support groups, classes and presentations. For a complete listing and class dates, visit www.CancerLifeline.org or call 206.297.2500.
We help you and your new family get off to the best start possible! Our array of educational classes and support groups provide you with the skills necessary to not only welcome your new baby into the world, but to care for your newborn once you go home.
To register for classes, visit www.evergreenhealth.com/ birthing-classes. Register early during your pregnancy, as classes fill quickly.
EvergreenHealth’s Baby & Family Boutique offers a variety of unique products to help you during pregnancy and the first year with your new baby. For more information, visit www.evergreenhealth.com/boutique
Provides opportunities for seniors living independently within our area and at designated senior communities to participate in various health and wellness activities to enhance their wellbeing and quality of life. In addition to the Senior Health classes offered at EvergreenHealth’s Kirkland campus, we offer classes at other convenient community locations.
HORIZONS CLASSES
Chair Yoga – November 2024
A gentle form of yoga practiced sitting in a chair or standing with the support of a chair.
Eating for Healthy Weight Loss – December 2024
Talk to a nutritionist about diet risks, myths and fads. Learn simple, safe tips for achieving healthy weight loss with balanced nutrition.
First Response – January 2025
Gain the knowledge and confidence to act quickly and correctly if you are the first person upon an emergency situation.
Good Night, Sleep Tight – February 2025
Learn how aging, illness or medication can affect your sleep patterns, and get tips that may help you sleep through the night.
This year’s Evergreen Gala, held April 26, was an unforgettable night of community and generosity. Guests gathered at Sparkman Cellars in Woodinville to enjoy food and wine pairings with celebrated chef John Howie. After dinner, guests bid on offerings in the auction and enjoyed live music and dancing. We also took time to recognize our Spirit of Giving honorees, Dr. Jeff and Merrie Tomlin.
The gala, presented by Bellevue Healthcare, raised $1.3 million to support a series of initiatives to ensure EvergreenHealth has the most advanced technology, innovative programs and comprehensive services available for our growing region.
To all our guests and sponsors, thank you so much for your continued support. Your generosity will create a lasting impact in the lives of patients in our community, from exceptional maternity services to compassionate end-of-life care. As economic factors put financial pressure on the health care industry, community philanthropy matters more now than ever.
PRESENTING
Bellevue Healthcare
PLATINUM
Cashman Family Charitable Fund
GOLD
EvergreenHealth Medical Staff
First Choice Health (Impact)
Radia Inc., PS (Impact)
Skony Resources, Inc.
SILVER
Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, PC
Merchants Credit Association (Impact)
Pacific Office Automation (Impact)
Aldrich and Associates Inc.
Commissioner Virgil Snyder & Ms. Kelly Snyder
Evergreen Emergency Services (Impact)
Matrix Anesthesia
Parker, Smith & Feek (Impact)
PRK Livengood, PLLC
ADVOCATE
Heritage Bank
John and Diane DeYoung
Whidbey Coffee Company
SUPPORTER
Aon
Bloodworks Northwest
Cigna
Davis Wright Tremaine
Fidelity Investments
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Intercare Insurance
KPMG LLP
Laboratory Corporation (Impact)
Little Family Foundation
Merrill Lynch – Kelly Wealth Management Group
Pediatrix Medical Group – EMFM
Pediatrix Medical Group – Seattle Neonatology
PFM Asset Management LLC
Premera
Professional Credit
Quest Diagnostics
ROMAC Industries, Inc.
Thomas Cuisine (Impact)
FRIENDS OF EVERGREENHEALTH
Invictus Surgical
Medical Solutions
Symetra
On Mother’s Day in 2023, Kayla learned her mom, Robyn, had received a life-altering cancer diagnosis. Engaged to be married only a few weeks prior, Kayla put wedding planning aside to be by her mom’s side, taking her to appointments and helping their family navigate the diagnosis. However, when her mom was transferred to the Gene and Irene Wockner Hospice Center, the caregivers encouraged Kayla to make the most of the time they had left together.
With the support of the hospice care team, Kayla arranged to move up her wedding and host it on the grounds of the hospice center, so that her mom could be part of their special day. Discussions of cancer and pain became chatter of dresses, flowers, music and food – precious moments of excitement that Kayla and her mom could share together. When the wedding day arrived, it was the stories Robyn shared and the joy of having one more day all together that made the moment even more meaningful. Kayla and her family were the featured guests of our 2024 Meaningful Medicine Luncheon, benefiting hospice care. Scan the QR code or visit www.evergreenhealthfoundation.com/ kaylas-story to hear her family’s meaningful story of care and to support the work of EvergreenHealth’s Hospice Care Services.
