Keynote Speaker

2012 Keynote Speaker Announced!

Maxine Hayes, MD, MPH, is the State Health Officer for the Washington State Department of Health.  As the state’s top public health doctor, her role includes advising the governor and the secretary of health on issues ranging from health promotion and chronic disease prevention, to emergency response, including pandemic influenza preparedness.  She also works closely with the medical community, local health departments and community groups.

Prior to her appointment as Health Officer, Dr. Hayes was the Assistant Secretary of Community and Family Health.  Dr. Hayes is clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington, School of Medicine, and on the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) faculty of the School of Public Health.

In 2000 she was presented an honorary Doctorate of Science by former Acting Surgeon General and President of Spelman College, Dr. Audrey Manley.  In 2008, she was presented an honorary Doctorate of Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo.  She is the recipient of many awards and honors for her work in maternal and child health, including the American Medical Association’s 2002 Dr. Nathan Davis Award and the 2003 Heroes in Health Care Lifetime Achievement Award through the Washington Health Foundation.  In November of 2007 she received the APHA Helen Rodriguez Trias Social Justice Award.  Dr. Hayes was elected to Institute of Medicine (IOM), October 2006 and inducted into the Institute in October of 2007.  In 2010, Dr. Hayes was awarded the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) - Champions in the Field of Maternal and Child Health Award in recognition of promising practices for addressing health disparities in the MCH population.  Dr. Hayes is also a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.