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WHY GROUP HEALTH? MEMBERS SAY IT BEST Jim Whittaker
Just days later, I was stricken with severe abdominal pain — which I was just certain was appendicitis — and collapsed in the registrar's office. Our associate dean rushed me to Group Health's Capitol Hill Campus where we were met on the sidewalk by Dr. Ward Miles. Dr. Miles, upon observing me as I rocked in pain, simultaneously greeted me and observed to the two or three interns trailing behind him: "classic renal colic." Very shortly, I received pain relief, a short lecture on the incidence of kidney stones in Honduras (where Dr. Miles had served with the Peace Corps), assurances that my appendix was not the culprit (wrong side), and some helpful tips on prevention (fluids, fluids, fluids). I was then admitted to the hospital. While I never saw or was treated by Dr. Miles again, the blend of caring and competence he showed on that day remain vivid in my memory. Dr. Miles was, in those few moments, a skillful healer and an even greater teacher. All of this before we had officially signed up for Group Health. What Does Group Health Mean To You?
We value that these core attributes are wrapped in a systems concept that takes prevention and education seriously, emphasizes the power of collectivity through shared decision making, and minimizes what for much of American health care is the morass of patient billing and reimbursement. For these and many other specific reasons — the wonderfully innovative Consulting Nurse Service comes immediately to mind — Group Health has been a faithful and significant partner to our family for many years. POSTED: 5/23/2008
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In June 1970, my wife Kathleen and I arrived in Seattle with a newly minted graduate degree from the University of Minnesota, a contract for a tenure-track faculty post at the University of Washington School of Social Work, and, most importantly, an infant son. 
