L. F. "Fritz" Fenster M.D.

L. F. "Fritz" FENSTER M. D. 1931~2011 Born in San Francisco, October 31, 1931. He died at home in Seattle, January 19, 2011. Dr. Fenster was educated at Lowell High School, where he was President of his Senior Class and All City Basketball. He then went to Stanford University (B.A. magna cum laude) in History and Phi Beta Kappa, graduated in 1953. He graduated from Harvard Medical School (cum laude) and Alpha Omega Alpha in 1957. He was an intern and resident at Yale-Grace New Haven Hospital and spent a third year there as a Fellow in liver diseases under Dr. Gerald Klatskin. He was then Chief Medical Resident at King County Hospital (now Harborview Medical Center) and the University of Washington in Seattle, Wa. He then served two years as clinical associate at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland. He was then Section Head of the Department of Gastroenterology at King County Hospital over four years before joining The Mason Clinic in 1967. He was the head of the sub-section of hepatology for over twenty years and retired form clinical practice in October 1993. Dr. Fenster was very involved with healthcare quality and cost-effectiveness issues for decades, both at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and also as a participant in the Washington State PSRO and Joint Commission quality efforts. He was formerly chairman of the Practice Patterns Task Force at Virginia Mason. This group was charged with finding ways to reduce waste and inefficiencies in the way physicians practice. Between 1991 and 1997 He was the Medical Director of the Office of Value Assessment (OVA) at Virginia Mason. For many years he was also associate chairman of the QA (quality assessment) Committee of the VM Medical Center. He was a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington from 1975 until his retirement and was also Clinical Professor in the Department of Health Services from 1997 to retirement. In 1991 he was awarded the R.H. Williams Leadership in Medicine Award by the Seattle Academy of Internal Medicine. In 1995 he won the James Tate Mason Award of the Virginia Mason Medical Center. In 1997he received the annual "Distinguished Clinician" award given by the American Gastroenterologic Association. He won several "best teacher" awards over his career. He is survived by his niece, Lisa Walters Girard of Gualala, California. No services were held at his request. Remembrances can be donated to the Council for Secular Humanism, 1310 Sweet Home Road, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, New York 14226-0064 Sign Fritz's on-line Guest Book at www.Legacy.com.