Washington Health Alliance board member and Confluence Health CEO Dr. Peter Rutherford was awarded the 2021 Joe Hopkins Memorial from the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA). The Joe Hopkins Memorial Award was created in 1987 to acknowledge an individual who displays the spirit of Joe Hopkins, a long-time leader in Washington state health care. It is given each year by WSHA as a lifetime achievement award for a health care leader who has made outstanding contributions to health care in the state, especially to rural health care. Dr. Rutherford’s commitment to patient-centered care and his steadfast determination to helping patients live their healthiest lives make him well-deserving of this honor.

Dr. Rutherford joined Wenatchee Valley Medical Center as a physician in 1990. In 2013, he led the affiliation of two competing Central Washington hospitals–Central Washington Hospital and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center–and brought them together as Confluence Health, serving as CEO of the new organization. Dr. Rutherford was recognized in 2018 as an Outstanding Leader in Health Care by the Puget Sound Business Journal and served as chair to the WSHA Board of Directors from 2019 to 2020.

Under Dr. Rutherford’s leadership, Confluence Health has increased its workforce by 60%, opened three new clinic locations (including an on-site partnership with a local employer) and new services and technologies. In addition to Internal Medicine, his clinical interest is predominantly geriatric medicine. He is dedicated to developing a health system that is financially sustainable, improves the value of patient care and ensures local access to a range of safe, high-quality services, while maintaining local leadership in health care.