Dr. Rayburn Lewis, a board certified internal medical physician and the executive and medical director at Swedish Hospital's Ballard Campus, was recently named one of "America's Leading Doctors," by Black Enterprise magazine.
"It's neat to be recognized by a national publication. It was great, it was very nice. I sent copies to family and friends," said Lewis, who has been at Swedish Ballard since 1984.
He was recognized in the May 2008 issue of the magazine and was given the honor for epitomizing the core values of education, achievement, honesty and integrity.
With overall responsibility for the operations at Swedish Ballard, Lewis oversees clinical activity, growth and campus redevelopment. He also recruits new physicians to the campus.
The hospital has a long history in the community and grass roots support helped build the original Ballard Hospital through donations collected by the famous "Knuckle Knockers."
"It's a very progressive community for supporting the hospital," said Lewis.
Last year Swedish announced plans for a $31.5 million project to build a new outpatient center and medical office on Tallman Avenue.
"With the emphasis on Ballard redevelopment, the new CEO (Dr. Rodney Hochman) wanted to be more physically involved," said Lewis.
Lewis has been the executive director of Medicine and Behavioral Health service groups at Swedish and medical director at the Cherry Hill campus from 1995 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007, he was Swedish's vice president for Medical Affairs.
At the Mother Joseph Clinic at the Cherry Hill campus, Lewis serves as the medical director. The clinic provides services to uninsured and underinsured patients.
He attended Purdue University and the University of Michigan for his undergraduate education and received a medical degree at the University of Washington.
A long list of awards includes: the Col. William Hall Award for Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare from the African American Community Health Network; the Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Spirit of Caring Award from the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic; the Alpha Phi Alpha Zeta Pi Lambda Chapter Meritorious Community Service Award; and the Seattle Human Services Coalition's annual Human Services Mayoral Award for providing strong leadership and advocacy for King County's underserved, uninsured and low-income residents.
