Gail Shapiro, 59, made each patient feel special
Talk to patients of Dr. Gail Shapiro, who practiced for 31 years at Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center, and a theme quickly emerges: She had a way of making each patient feel special.
Whether it was calling them at home just to see how they were doing or battling insurance companies on their behalf, Dr. Shapiro seemed to really care.
"I always felt like I must have been her favorite patient to get all this extra help," said Anna McCartney, whose family saw Dr. Shapiro for more than four years. It wasn't until last week, talking to other patients, that McCartney realized the truth: She wasn't getting special treatment at all.
"She did all this extra stuff for everyone who needed help," McCartney said. "It's a pretty amazing doctor who can have that sort of relationship with so many patients."
Dr. Shapiro, 59, died Aug. 25 during cardiac surgery.
In her long career, she treated an estimated 36,000 patients and touched just as many lives with her warmth.
"In this day and age, doctors really aren't able to do that," said patient Rita Wright — who thought she, too, was a favorite. "You feel like a number or they're in a hurry. But no matter how busy she was or how many patients were waiting, your time with her was all your own."
Wright still remembers the day 22 years ago when she walked into Dr. Shapiro's office feeling hopeless about dealing with asthma that sent her repeatedly to the hospital.
"After talking to her for two minutes, and I saw how she listened to me, it gave me hope for the first time in years," Wright said.
Dr. Shapiro was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island. She graduated summa cum laude from Brown University and received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine before coming to Seattle to join Northwest Asthma & Allergy Center.
In addition to seeing patients, Dr. Shapiro was a clinical professor at the University of Washington and a mentor to countless young doctors. She served as president of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology from 2001 to 2002 and was involved in numerous research studies. She was viewed as a national expert in pediatric asthma, and she has been quoted in publications across the country, including an article in The Seattle Times on breastfeeding children with food allergies that ran shortly after her death.
Her curriculum vitae lists pages of accomplishments.
"You'd look at it and say 20 people must have done this, but it was just this one woman," Wright said.
Dr. Shapiro is survived by her husband, Peter; son Evan and his wife, Sabina; daughter Jessica Shapiro Mirsky and her husband, Darrell; and granddaughter Hannah Rose. A funeral was held at Congregation Beth Shalom on Aug. 27.
Maureen O'Hagan: 206-464-2562