Keeping It Simple

Common sense and common good has guided Aubrey Davis in an epic career.

By Myke Folger | March 2010 | FROM THE PRINT EDITION

Photograph by Hayley Young

Lifetime Achievement Award

Aubrey Davis is a name that for many Washingtonians conjures far-reaching transportation projects, thoughtful politics and massive endeavors in how health care is delivered in the Evergreen State.

Indeed, for most of his adult life, Davis has lived in service to the community. He has been mayor and city councilman of Mercer Island and is largely responsible for the construction of the Interstate 90 bridge and tunnel with a lid of parks that has become the envy of other communities.

Davis was a federal transportation official who helped secure funds for the downtown Seattle bus tunnel. He ran for King County Executive and managed the final campaign for much-revered U.S. Senator Warren Magnuson.

Aubrey Davis was one of the first members-and later CEO-of Group Health Cooperative, helping the nonprofit become a leader for providing quality care in Washington.

Perhaps his greatest achievement was as a founding member (No. 239) and later chief executive of Group Health Cooperative-an organization that has been one of the most innovative health care providers in the country both in terms of improving care and controlling cost.

"Many organizations have been formed over the years, but most broke down over the relationship between citizens and the doctors," says Davis, who, at 92, remains as vibrant and as in touch with the current state of health care as ever. Davis helped Group Health find identity and longevity, amid a torrent of naysayers, by building support among its members, doctors and staff.

While many health care providers became so highly structured that they lost touch with themselves, "We somehow managed to develop the relationship between the member, consumer board and the physicians' group leadership that enabled the organization to prosper," he says. "It took a lot of hours and negotiation over a number of years from the '50s, '60s and '70s."

Part of that system was developing a customer prepayment plan so that doctors didn't have to deal with a lot of paperwork. His own dues as a member in the 1940s were $3 a month. And so to prevent any quibbling over compensation, especially if, say, a pediatrician and a specialist worked on the same patient, doctors were paid flat salaries. That eliminated duplication and confusing record keeping and made it easy for doctors to collaborate.

"Just this spring I sent an e-mail to my family doctor and he forwarded it to my cardiologist," Davis says. "An hour later, the cardiologist replied. So we disposed a lot of the complexity and paperwork for the insurance system, [an approach] which makes us more efficient. We have a successful delivery system and I was glad to be a part of it."

Davis first heard of Group Health in the 1940s while he was interning for the National Institute of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. Each of his four children was born in Group Health hospitals and he's been a member since 1947. He liked the simplicity for which the cooperative strived. After becoming a member, he went on to hold every elected position in the organization, including seven terms as chair. And in 1988, Davis was appointed president and chief executive officer, a post he held for three years. In 1991, he was named Group Health's first president emeritus, a position he still holds today with great pride.

Runners-Up:

William Dowling, Professor, UW Dept. of Health Services

In a career that has spanned five decades, particularly as a professor (now chair emeritus) of the Department of Health Services at the University of Washington, Dowling has made seminal contributions to the improvement of health care in Washington. He added faculty to the university's Master of Health Administration program. He was also the principal author of reimbursement models in the rural health plan and instrumental in articulating payment models for the patient-centered medical home.

Anna Mae Ericksen, Deaconess Nursing School

As a nurse, Ericksen served in the Army during World War II. Later she was on the front lines of emergency care at Deaconess Medical Center in Spokane and became a respected professor at her alma mater, Deaconess Nursing School. Over the years, hundreds of registered nurses throughout the state learned emergency nursing from her. She is also a 60-year member of the American Red Cross, and has been honored with both the Ann Magnuson Award and the Clara Barton Honor Award.

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