February 14, 2020
HEALWA: The On-Call Library for Washington State Healthcare Practitioners
Medicine, more so than many other disciplines, is a rapidly changing field. According to some estimates, medical knowledge doubles every few months, up from the fifty years it took to double in 1950.1 Using evidenced-based resources to provide the best care is imperative in the healthcare industry. Yet, unless healthcare workers are affiliated with an academic medical center or clinic, (or work in a large hospital system) they may not have access to a medical library and the up-to-date information, tools and subscription-based resources they need. From a small urban clinic to the sole provider serving a rural community, to your local hospital; HEALWA is an essential tool for healthcare professionals.
The HEALWA project (“Heal” Washington) was created in Washington State to ensure that providers, regardless of their location or size, can access these critical tools. HEALWA is a portal to online resources for selected medical professions in Washington State. It is funded by a portion of the professional license fees. HEALWA provides online access to journal articles, databases, and other tools needed for evidence-based practice and research.
However, the HEALWA initiative is much more than a collection of tools and resources. We are also educators and advocates working to increase awareness and access to HEALWA for all medical professions.
Currently, 27 professions are served by HEALWA representing a wide range of providers and specialties and 219,287 eligible users. As part of our mission, we are continually working to increase outreach and access to HEALWA across the state. One of our most recent focus areas is Eastern Washington. Working in collaboration with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Pacific Northwest Region (NNLM PNR) and Washington State University (WSU) Spokane, HEALWA partners taught webinars and workshops and engaged with stakeholders across the region to introduce and increase access to HEALWA.
HEALWA, UW and UW LIBRARIES
The project is conducted under a contract between the University of Washington and the Washington State Department of Health. It was started by a former director of the UW Health Sciences Library, Sherri Fuller, and Peter Dunbar, a former president of the Washington Medical Association. They approached the legislature and were successful in getting the original legislation passed in 2007, and the HEALWA website launched in 2009. Today, HEALWA continues to be managed by our own UW Health Sciences Librarians’ who are uniquely qualified to create and maintain the online library that is HEALWA.
“HEALWA is managed by our own UW Health Sciences Librarians’ who are uniquely qualified to create and maintain the online library that is HEALWA.”
Each biennium, the legislature approves our funding to continue, and additional professions are also added by legislation, as a result of partnerships between HEALWA and the professional associations of the provider groups.
When students graduate, if they are licensed in Washington, they will have access to HEALWA.
- Tania Bardyn, Associate Dean of University Libraries and Director, Health Sciences Library, is the Principal Investigator for HEALWA
- Patricia Devine, Community Outreach Coordinator, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of HEALWA.
- Densen, Peter. “Challenges and opportunities facing medical education.” Transactions of the American Clinical and Climatological Association 122 (2011): 48-58.
