Winfried Danke
Danke’s career spans roles in nonprofit leadership, international health care and domestic health system transformation.
Mason Health proudly announced the addition of Winfried Danke as the District’s new Chief Operating Officer in December 2024. He oversees clinic operations at Mason Clinic and ancillary services at Mason General Hospital.
Born and raised in Germany’s Black Forest region, Danke’s journey to the Pacific Northwest began when he met his wife while pursuing a graduate degree in International Studies at the University of Southampton in England. After marrying, the couple moved to the United States, where Danke’s career in civic and health care leadership took shape.
“My early work focused on facilitating strategic planning and development in local communities, with the National Civic League in Colorado and the Illinois Valley Community Response Team, a community development organization in southern Oregon,” Danke shared. “But I realized I wanted to be on the implementation side, driving plans forward and creating tangible outcomes.”
Danke’s career spans roles in nonprofit leadership, international health care and domestic health system transformation. He served as executive director of the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation in Seattle, regularly traveling abroad to countries such as Vietnam, Haiti, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh to expand orthopedic care in those regions. Wanting to transition to domestic health care, Danke led the CHOICE Regional Health Network for six years, starting in 2012.
During his tenure at CHOICE, the organization worked on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Washington state, partnering with the Washington Health Benefits Exchange to communicate health insurance opportunities to uninsured and under-insured individuals. Through his leadership, CHOICE achieved state designation as one of two pilot Accountable Communities of Health in Washington, through a subsidiary organization known as the Cascade Pacific Action Alliance. The alliance covered a seven-county region, bringing together health care and social service providers and other stakeholders to help communities reach their health goals. Locally, the work of the alliance brought Mason Health new positions — patient financial advocates, who have become integral in serving the local community.
“Our goal was to move the needle on population health,” Danke said. “It was about building coalitions to address systemic challenges. I want to help organizations excel and help a community plan and act for a better future. Purpose and impact are important to me.”
During his time with CHOICE, Danke met and worked closely with Mason Health leadership. As Danke continued his career, working as executive director of Strategy & Business Development at Providence Health & Services and later Vice President of Enterprise Strategy at Premera Blue Cross, Danke remembered Mason Health as an organization that was deeply community-focused with an excellent management structure.
Most recently, Danke served as COO at Summit Pacific Medical Center, where he implemented programs that significantly improved patient access, increasing answered call rates from 50 to 80 percent. He came to Mason Health excited to help the organization build on its reputation as a community-focused health care provider.
“Mason Health is an anchor in the community,” he said. “I’m passionate about creating systems that hardwire excellence and improve care delivery. This is where I can have the biggest impact.”
Danke is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking, biking, sea kayaking, learning new languages and spending time with his wife, three adult daughters and Maltipoo.
More About Winfried:
Winfried has been selected for participation in the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Danke is one of 17 leaders from throughout the nation who are set to begin a year-long leadership development journey in the prestigious Baldrige Executive Fellows Program in April 2025. The competitively selected fellows will gain one-on-one access to Baldrige Award recipients — nationally recognized, role-model organizations across all sectors of the U.S. economy.
“I am honored to have been selected for this prestigious executive leadership program, and I am looking forward to applying advanced performance management concepts and techniques from the fellowship to help Mason Health achieve performance excellence,” Danke said. “Becoming a Baldrige Fellow will make me a better leader.”
Read the Full Mason Health Press Release: https://www.masonhealth.com/ab...
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