Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

At Fred Hutch Cancer Center we combine innovative research with compassionate care to address the impact of cancer and infectious disease. We’re driven by the urgency of our patients, the hope of our community and our passion for discovery to pursu r community and our passion for discovery to pursue scientific breakthroughs and healthier lives for every person.  Our mission is directly tied to the humanity, dignity and inherent value of each employee, patient, community member and supporter. Our actions are driven by the commitments expressed in our values: Collaboration, Compassion, Determination, Excellence, Innovation, Integrity and Respect.  Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization, that also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program. Cancer can impact health in many ways and Fred Hutch and UW Medicine work together to offer the specialized focus of a leading cancer center and the comprehensive services of a top-ranked health system. In 2022, Fred Hutch restructured its relationship with UW Medicine and now serves as its cancer program. With two organizations known globally for medical discoveries, patients have access to the latest research, treatment options and clinical trials. When baseball great and hometown hero Fred Hutchinson found a lump in his neck in 1963, he turned to his brother, Seattle surgeon Dr. Bill Hutchinson. Bill made the unhappy diagnosis: cancer. Fred died of the disease the following year, cutting short his Major League Baseball career at age 45. By then, Bill had already established the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation to study heart surgery, cancer and endocrine diseases. Upon Fred’s death, he channeled his brotherly devotion into creating a living memorial — a center dedicated to studying cancer. With critical help from U.S. Sen. Warren Magnuson and the Seattle community, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center opened its doors in 1975. Initially located on Seattle’s First Hill, Fred Hutch hired as its first director of medical oncology Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, who had spent decades developing an innovative treatment for leukemia and other blood cancers. Thomas and his colleagues were working to cure cancer by transplanting human bone marrow after near-lethal doses of chemotherapy and radiation. At Fred Hutch, Thomas improved this treatment and readied it for widespread use. The pioneering procedure has since saved hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide. Later, Dr. Rainier Storb and colleagues developed a radically different approach to bone marrow transplantation. It offered hope for older or otherwise medically unfit blood cancer patients whose bodies could not withstand the rigors of a conventional transplant. This treatment, called the non-myeloablative stem cell transplant, or “mini-transplant,” does not wipe out bone marrow and involves minimal radiation. Studies have shown that patients are as likely to survive following a reduced-intensity transplant as the conventional transplant. Thomas received the 1990 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his breakthrough research, establishing a legacy of innovation and excellence that all Fred Hutch researchers strive to follow. In 1998, Fred Hutch, Seattle Children’s and UW Medicine joined forces to form Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) to lead the world in translating scientific discovery into the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of cancer. This was the guiding principle when SCCA opened its first outpatient clinic in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood in 2001, and it inspires our work today. As part of our ongoing evolution, the alliance partners restructured their relationship in 2022 to form Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, a unified adult cancer research and care center. Today’s Fred Hutch brings together Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and SCCA into a single, independent, nonprofit organization that also serves as the cancer program for UW Medicine. That represents another step toward our vision of decreasing the time between discovery and delivery of the most advanced treatments for our patients. We have more than 10 clinical sites to bring our world-class care to people across the Puget Sound region including an expanded South Lake Union clinic on the Fred Hutch main campus. Since we first opened our doors in 1975, Fred Hutch's reach has grown to span the world. In addition to our Seattle campus, we have research facilities in Uganda and South Africa that allow our scientists additional resources to detect, understand and prevent cancer and other diseases. Our Mission Fred Hutch Cancer Center unites innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious disease. We’re driven by the urgency of our patients, the hope of our community and our passion for discovery to pursue scientific breakthroughs and healthier lives for every person in every community. Values Our mission is directly tied to the humanity, dignity and inherent value of each employee, patient, community member and supporter. Our commitment to learning across our differences and similarities make us stronger. Collaboration — We embrace different perspectives, approaches and methods to advance our mission. We seek a variety of perspectives and approaches to advance the best solutions, respect potential partners as valuable contributors, and form teams with distinctive and complementary perspectives in mind. Compassion — We acknowledge the humanity, differing backgrounds and unique experiences of our colleagues, patients, families and ourselves by demonstrating respect, patience and kindness. Determination — We are committed to overcoming obstacles to deliver on our mission as quickly as possible by making decisions and meeting challenges with a focus on the ultimate goal of lifesaving impact; acting with urgency, persistence and creativity; focusing on solutions and achievement; being driven by quality; finding new ways around problems; and getting curious rather than discouraged when the going gets tough. Excellence — We define the standard through the exceptional quality of our work by continuing to educate ourselves in our role and in our professional domain; being accountable for our work and outcomes; striving to maintain high-quality research, care and administrative service; ensuring teams are appropriately staffed; and valuing all employees and colleagues. Innovation — We challenge conventional thinking and seek and foster transformative ideas and practices by supporting and embracing a continuous learning environment, seeking to understand by asking questions, listening with an open mind and encouraging the activation of bold and creative ideas. Integrity — We are a trustworthy and responsible partner to our patients, colleagues, and community. We achieve this by following through on commitments; holding each other and ourselves accountable; being transparent, honest, and acting with best intentions; and demonstrating public and private actions consistent with our values and mission. Respect — We regard and honor each person’s individuality, experiences and traditions by listening and responding; speaking with truth and honoring others’ truths; appreciating and responding to everyone’s purpose as contributors to our mission; giving due consideration to others as equals to ourselves; and seeking to understand the motivations and drivers of our colleagues’, patients’ and community’s behaviors. ...view more