-- NEW POSITION: Vice president of quality integration and improvement, Swedish Health Services.
-- RESPONSIBILITIES: Morton will organize ``integrated quality management principles and methods'' in the daily management systems of the Swedish Medical Center at First Hill, in Ballard and for a home health and hospice program.
-- PERSONAL: Morton was vice president of quality resources for Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska (now known as Premera) for the past 18 months. Before that, she worked for Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound as director, quality of service, from 1989-95, and as manager, dental health group and director of organizational development at Pacific Medical Center from 1984-1988. Morton also taught management to senior dental school students and served as director of faculty development at the University of Washington Dental School for nine years. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Washington, a master's degree in counseling and personnel services from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in education and business from the UW. Morton lives in Seattle with her husband Bill. Their son, Riley, is a junior at Western Washington University.
-- INTERESTS: Traveling, cooking and reading.
-- GREATEST INFLUENCE: ``Other than family, I think I would say that Revajean Porter, my synchronized swimming coach as a high school and college student, was one of the greatest influences in my life. She taught me a lot about setting high goals, working together with teams to achieve shared goals and valuing each person's contribution to the whole. She was a wonderful mentor and role model over the years.''
-- BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY: ``Organizations that consistently earn the loyalty of their customers are managed differently than their merely good competitors. In such organizations, every person and process is focused on creating incredible value for the customer. Creating such value requires active listening, clear focus on things that really matter to the customer, great teamwork, exquisite implementation and a constant quest for more and better ways to delight those served. The talents and contributions of every single person in the organization are needed to achieve such extraordinary results.''
-- LAST BOOK READ: ``The Loyalty Effect'' by Fredereick Reichheld.
-- Executive File is a weekly feature about an area executive with a new assignment. To nominate a person, send complete information to Executive File, P-I Business News, P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA 98111-1909.
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