Harborview Medical Center

Harborview Medical Center
University of Washington
	Harborview Medical Center
Geography
Location	King County, Washington, United States
Organization
Care system	Public, Medicaid, Medicare
Hospital type	Teaching
Affiliated university	University of Washington
Services
Emergency department	Level I trauma center
Beds	413
History
Founded	1877
Links
Website	home page
Lists	Hospitals in Washington

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Harborview Medical Center, located on Seattle's First Hill, is a public hospital in King County, Washington and is managed by the University of Washington. It was founded in 1877 as King County Hospital, a six-bed welfare hospital in a two-story south Seattle building. By 1906, it had moved into a new building in Georgetown, with room for 225 patients. Another move occurred in 1931, when the center wing of the present hospital on First Hill was completed, and the hospital's name was changed to Harborview.

Harborview was instrumental in establishing Medic One, one of the country's first paramedic response programs. Many of Washington State's emergency medical service technicians are trained at Harborview. Its burn center is one of the largest in the United States, specializing in pioneering treatments, including the use of artificial skin products, which have cut mortality rates dramatically for severely burned patients. Harborview is also the principal clinical site for the University of Washington's center for AIDS research. The Madison Clinic, Harborview's outpatient facility, is the largest single provider of AIDS care in King County.

Harborview's Center for Sexual Assault and Traumatic Stress was established in 1973. Harborview's Center for Sexual Assault provides medical and counseling services to sexual assault victims and their families. Thousands of patients are treated each year in Harborview's Neurosurgery Department for disorders of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, including head and spinal cord injuries, stroke, brain tumors, degenerative disc disease, and spinal disc herniations. Its orthopedics service has often been listed as one of the top 10 services of its kind in the country by U.S. News and World Report.