Lois Thetford began her work on health inequities, anti-poverty, and health care for the homeless work in Seattle in 1970. I talked with her about her life and work in Seattle and learned a lot from our conversation, especially about safety net health care in our city and county. I had the privilege of working with her at what then was the 45th Street Clinic's Homeless Youth Clinic (now part of the larger Neighborcare Health) two evenings a week. Lois and I both experienced how the clinic became, as she said, "much more of a corporate structure. It's not as people-oriented; it's much more numbers oriented." That is a change that has happened across the country with community health centers (CHCs), so it is not unique to Seattle. I worked at several other Seattle-area CHCs during this time (late 1990s into the early 2000s), and they all underwent similar changes. Lois points out that it is important to not stay in a place that no longer supports the quality of patient care that aligns with what you believe in. I often say to go where you are wanted, needed, and supported. A hard lesson to learn (and relearn) over a long career in health care.

Lois highlighted the important role of Harborview Medical Center in our region's healthcare safety net and how through federal research funding (now hobbled and stopped by President Trump/his administration) people at Harborview, the University of Washington, and Public Health--Seattle & King County developed world-class innovations in trauma-informed care, behavioral health treatment, motivational interviewing, and infectious disease treatment and control.

Of her decades of work providing quality health care to people, including youth and families, experiencing homelessness, Lois had this to say: "the thing that I love about patient care, and that I especially love about homeless care, is that you can make such a difference. You meet people when they are in a very bad place in their lives, and by treating them--what I think of as appropriately--which is respectfully, and hearing them out, letting them tell you who they are and what their needs are, you get to participate. You become a witness to their life journey, and that is an honor."

Please listen to Lois's stories and absorb and apply her wisdom.