Mission and values
Our mission: Fred Hutchinson 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 values are grounded in and expressed through the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). 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 a diversity of perspectives, approaches, and methods, advancing our mission through understanding and inclusion by demonstrating active listening, inquiring and then advocating, advancing solutions, seeking out and valuing diverse perspectives and approaches, respecting potential partners as valuable contributors, and forming teams with inclusion in mind.
Compassion
We acknowledge the humanity and unique lived experience 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.
Clinical priorities
Every employee of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center plays a unique role in helping us live up to our purpose:
- To provide state-of-the-art, patient and family-centered care
- To support cancer clinical research and education
- To enhance access to improved cancer interventions and advance the standard of cancer care, regionally and beyond
Everything we do is focused on delivering better, safer outcomes for our patients. We approach everything we do with compassion, conviction, and a constant striving because we know how profoundly important our work is to the lives of the patients we serve.
