I work with an extraordinary number of very devoted, compassionate people at Harborview and in particular in the Cardiology Clinic where the team is truly outstanding. Even among this group of phenomenal patient advocates Kate Smith stands out as the most committed, compassionate person I have ever had the honor to know. I attribute the longevity of some of our most vulnerable chronically ill patients to her supreme dedication to helping keep these patients engaged and feeling safe and cared for in our clinic. She goes way out of her way, including home visits to drop off medicines on the way home from work, and giving her cell phone to patients whom she is particularly worried about so that they can call in a crisis.

We had a long-standing patient with mental illness and heart failure who lived on the streets. Thankfully, and partly through her advocacy, we were able to place him in a SNF at his end of life. She visited him off hours several times a week until he died. When he felt anxious and was on the verge of heading back out onto the streets to die, her presence helped reassure him he would be well cared for and he stayed, eventually dying on comfort care.

Some of our patients, whose heart failure is brittle and whose life is chaotic, call her daily. She is known throughout homeless health networks in Seattle (DESC housing nurses, case workers) as someone to contact to ensure vulnerable patients with cardiac disease get help. When we identify new patients in the hospital with heart failure who are vulnerable, she spends time with them upstairs getting to know them to increase the chance that they come to our clinic after discharge, thus increasing their chance of succeeding on a treatment plan.

Our patients trust her deeply because of the open-minded, non-judgmental, caring, and upbeat demeanor she always evinces. She is an absolute superstar, embodying the mission of Harborview in spectacular ways. We are so lucky she works here.