Virginia Mason Hospital (Seattle). Virginia Mason comes from humble beginnings. It was established in 1920 as an 80-bed hospital with six physician offices, named after the founders' daughters. Today, the 336-bed hospital employs more than 445 physicians and is an established champion for patient safety.
Virginia Mason is home to the oldest residency program in the state and is affiliated with a robust research arm, the Benaroya Research Institute, which is an international leader in immune system and autoimmune disease research. The hospital's affiliated Bailey-Boushay House is the first skilled-nursing and outpatient chronic care management program in the United States designed and built specifically to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS. Virginia Mason was named one of the safest hospitals in the nation in 2013 by The Leapfrog Group, and it also received Healthgrades' 2013 Outstanding Patient Experience Award.
Virginia Mason robustly advocates patient safety, upholding an organizational goal to provide care with zero defects. The hospital empowers all of its approximately 5,600 employees to act as "safety inspectors," staying on the lookout for potential errors before they occur. Virginia Mason was the first hospital in the nation to implement a mandatory influenza immunization for all staff, and it is implementing evidence-based practice improvements in a dozen clinical areas to enhance patient safety.
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