Swedish Medical Center's Ballard campus medical staff has elected Dr. Shawn West as its new chief of staff for a two-year term.

West, a North Beach resident, will serve from January 2007 through December 2008. As chief of staff, West leads the medical personnel and serves as a liaison with the downtown Swedish Medical Center administration.

"I would like the people in the greater Ballard area to know about all that the hospital has to offer, and that they can stay in their community for care," said West.

One program that Swedish offers is an newly upgraded Family Childbirth Center. West says the unit has state of the art birthing rooms and a great staff which makes it an ideal place for parents to have a baby.

"It's a great hospital. This campus offers something unique in that it combines the high-quality care of the Swedish system with the comfort and convenience of a community hospital," said West.

The new chief of staff wants to expand the hospital's outpatient services. He says the Ballard community offers many services so people don't need to go downtown for their needs and this Swedish Medical Center available in the neighborhood.

"We want to try to promote it so people know about it. There are still people in Ballard who don't know about it," said West.

He also promises stronger support for the two-year old Ballard Health Improvement Program referred to as "B-HIP." The program offers a health lecture, blood pressure checks, followed by a two to four mile walk around the neighborhood.

During the lectures, participants learn how to select the proper shoes for walking or listen to discussions of blood pressure, healthy diets, how sleep is related to health or reading food labels.

In 2006, the Ballard Health Improvement Program focused on risk assessment, physical activity and education interventions, mail based intervention and workplace intervention.

"We try to come up with ways to improve people's health and reduce their cardiovascular disease," said West.

By developing healthy habits and being more active, people can reduce their heart disease risk, said West.

Since the hospital first opened, community volunteers have been key to its success.

"It (the hospital) has been around 50 years and was started by local Ballardites. We have a lot of volunteers and programs to involve people in the community," West said.

West is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is the chief of family medicine at Swedish's Ballard facility.

West is also a clinical instructor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine and is a partner with Seattle Family Medicine.

West has been in practice at the Ballard campus since 2000. One of his goals is to keep the lines of communication between the hospital's physicians and administrators open. He wants to do this with the Ballard community as well.

Dean Wong may be reached at 783.1244 or dino@robinsonnews.com