Mission, Purpose and Values

The beginning of the Washington Health Foundation was as an education and research foundation for the Washington State Hospital Association.  Formed in 1962 and then called the Washington State Hospital Education and Research Foundation (WSHERF), the original mission and purpose of the organization was to serve the education and research needs of this trade association. It was only intermittently used for any specific program or purpose.

The organization was revitalized in 1992 in order to implement the Rural Hospital Assistance Program, through what became Its Rural Initiative.  With this reactivation, and expansion of role in the years to come, the organization explored how its name, mission, purpose and values should adapt to its times. 

MISSION: To Promote major improvement of the health system for the people of Washington and the Nation.

In 1995, the mission of the organization was set to Improve the health of the people of Washington.  It was most intentional on the part of the Board to assert that the new organization’s role was to go beyond the needs and role of the health care system and toward broader health improvement for Washingtonians.  In 2020, as the Board contemplated the next iteration of WHF’s leadership, it recognized that it now saw its role growing to include the nation along with the people of Washington, and that its approach to doing this had changed toward communications and policy more than programs and grants.  With this in mind, it modified the language to the above.

PURPOSE To engage and connect people who are passionate toward health system improvement.

For a decade after its revitalization in 1992, the purpose of the organization was thought of with respect to its functional capacities to help people and organizations advance health- education, research, programs, and grant support.  In 2002, with much success behind the organization, the Board reconsidered the role that the Foundation was serving across the state and how it might grow its impact.  A new purpose statement was adopted: to be the connector in Washington state that brings together health service providers, public and private leaders and people in need through practical and powerful opportunities that result in individual and community well-being.  In 2020, in recognition of the new role for the Foundation into the future, the Purpose Statement was revised to the above.

VALUES:  Caring, Optimistic, Knowledgeable, Leveraged and Unique.

In 2002, the Board undertook to identify the Foundation’s values through a structured conversation with its constituencies and the communities.  The goal was to identify and set its values based on who we actually were, rather than as aspirational expressions.    The values above were stated and more deeply defined and used in our branding and workplans, and have served as the consistent basis for who the Foundation is throughout its recent history.