Friends held a retirement party for Karen Matsuda, an advocate for underrepresented communities and women’s health.
Her friends say she is the only Asian nurse to reach the level of Deputy Regional Health Administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region X (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington).
Matsuda, a third-generation Japanese, was born in Fresno, Calif.
She was inducted into the Seattle Pacific University School of Nursing Hall of Fame and received the University of Washington Distinguished Alumnus Award. Matsuda was also among the healthcare professionals honored at the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation’s Annual Asian Americans Pioneer in Healthcare in 2010.