March 2010

August 13, 2010

By Harold Snow of Lane Powell PC

The Federal Gift and Estate Tax Statute lapsed Dec. 31, 2009, andbecause Congress hasn’t passed new legislation, for 2010 there is nofederal estate tax or federal generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax.These taxes return in 2011, but at much lower 2001 exemption levels andhigher tax rates. This approach will make it difficult for businessowners to transfer the…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Myke Folger

Outstanding Health Care Professional James Bergman has fully subscribed to the electronic age ofmedicine. Bergman, a family practice physician at Group HealthCooperative’s Factoria Medical Center, now handles the bulk of his patients’care via e-mail and telephone. The result? More contact with more patients.More give and take. More validation for the patients-all of which allowspatients to…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Myke Folger

Employer Achievement in Wellness Programs Since its inception in 2006, the employee wellness programhas become a symbol of an emerging new culture in American businesses. AtUnited General Hospital, the wellness program has become a source of realimprovement, where participating employees eat better, show less stress andreduce their cholesterol levels. Even United General’s CEO, Greg Reed,…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Myke Folger

Outstanding Achievement and Innovation in Life Sciences As daylight broke, Leroy Hood floated gently along the Nileoutside Cairo, in the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. It’s a fitting locale for a man of discovery who was takinga week off during the first few days of a new decade. Hood is the…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Myke Folger

Lifetime Achievement Award Aubrey Davis is a name that for many Washingtonians conjuresfar-reaching transportation projects, thoughtful politics and massive endeavorsin how health care is delivered in the Evergreen State. Indeed, for most of his adult life, Davis has lived inservice to the community. He has been mayor and city councilman of MercerIsland and is largely…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Myke Folger

Outstanding Health Care Executive (Puget Sound Region): Tie Doctors, administrators, nurses, you name it. They were nothappy when their workplace, Puyallup-based Good Samaritan Hospital, was takenover by Tacoma’s MultiCare Health System. Newly appointed CEO John Long had aHerculean task ahead of him. How was he to change the downtrodden culture within anoverextended organization and make…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Linn Parish

Outstanding Health Care Executive (Beyond Puget Sound) When Tom Fritz came to Inland Northwest Health Services, theSpokane-based organization was three years old and already had been through acouple of CEOs. In Fritz, however, INHS found the leader who would make it aregional force in health care services-as well as a national leader in healthcare information…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010By Seattle Business Magazine

Improving the quality of health care and reducing the costborne by both businesses and consumers has long been an elusive goal.Washington state, however, has been a leader in recent years. While we taketechnology more or less for granted in the Evergreen State, we have also becomemore innovative when it comes to delivering care in an…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Carol Tice

Joe Gill wasn’t any luck finding other work in the Seattlearea after Alcoa closed its Auburn plant in January 2009 and his plant-managerposition vaporized. So when he heard about an April job fair in Richland foropportunities at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, he got up at 3 a.m., droveeast and stood in line for eight hours…

  • March 2010

February 26, 2010

By Joyce Halldorson

Topline’s Bellevueheadquarters puts the designers in the same space as customers. Topline Corp., a leading shoe designer that suppliesNordstrom and other fashion retailers, had outgrown its offices. To make roomfor its growing staff and product line, the company transformed its Bellevueheadquarters by converting its former warehouse into an integrated showroom,design studio and office space. The…

  • March 2010