Emergency room doctor and small business owner Nathan Schlicher has announced he will run for the State House of Representative Position 1.

“Like so many of you, I’m tired of the gridlock and bickering in Olympia,” Schlicher said. “As an ER doctor, I’ve spent my life fixing problems, using resources wisely, and findings ways to do more with less. That is the common sense approach to getting things done I’ll bring to Olympia.”

Schlicher is the Associate Director for the TeamHealth National Patient Safety Organization, responsible for patient care quality across the 7,000-provider company. He practices emergency medicine at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Tacoma.

“We are seeing big changes in our health care system in Washington State, yet we still have career politicians in Olympia that have not cared for patients making important decisions that affect all of us,” Schlicher said. “We need someone who understands how these laws affect patients and providers and has a record of success in fixing healthcare. That’s why I’m running.”

Schlicher was appointed last year to the State Senate after Derek Kilmer was elected to the U.S. Congress. He immediately went to work finding millions in savings on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and throughout the ferry system to save our local ferry runs. He also designed the renowned ER is for Emergencies program that saved the state $33.6 million last year alone.

Schlicher has lived around the Puget Sound, growing up in Bemerton, graduating from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma and attending the University of Washington School of Law and School of Medicine in Seattle. Schlicher was born and raised in Bremerton and now lives with his wife Jessica and three children in Gig Harbor. He serves on multiple boards dedicated to patient advocacy, volunteers at the Key Peninsula Free Clinic and is active in the Gig Harbor United Methodist Church.