Carlos A. Pellegrini, MD, FACS, FRCSI(Hon), FRCS(Hon), FRCSEd(Hon), a Past-President of the American College of Surgeons, has received Seattle Business magazine’s 2018 Leaders in Health Care Lifetime Achievement Award for his committed service to improving the quality of patient care in the Seattle, WA, area.
Dr. Pellegrini has worked in the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, department of surgery since 1993, first as chair of the department and then in 1996 as the Henry N. Harkins Professor and Chair, until 2015, when he was appointed to serve as UW Medicine’s first chief medical officer (CMO).
According to the Seattle Business article on Dr. Pellegrini’s achievement, as CMO, Dr. Pellegrini oversees thousands of health care providers and has led a program that has visibly improved patient care quality, reduced costs, and “ensured that all of the health care system’s 270,000 patients have an assigned primary care provider across its primary care clinics.” He also integrated clinical services for key programs and created a training program to prepare young clinicians for leadership roles.
Dr. Carlos Pellegrini
Dr. Pellegrini said that his motivation has always been to help people, as a surgeon, a mentor, or, as he notes about his role as CMO, by “advancing social issues and the care that we provide our patients.”