OsteoEd

Funding for OsteoEd

This site is funded through a gift to the University of Washington School of Medicine from Dr. Hal Bergen in memory of his wife, Marjory, who died of complications of osteoporosis.

Dr. Bergen practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology in Yakima, Washington, for over 40 years before retiring in 1985. He met his wife Marjory while attending Columbia Medical School and they married the year of his graduation, 1939.

Dr. and Mrs. Bergen moved to Yakima, Washington, where he was the first trained obstetrician in the Yakima Valley.

In 1976, Mrs. Bergen began to suffer from the first stages of osteoporosis. Knowledge of this condition was in its infancy. Over the next 10 years, her condition progressed, ultimately leading to her death in 1987. Since that time, Dr. Bergen dedicated himself to increasing awareness of osteoporosis in his community through lectures and other activities. He provided an education grant to the UW Medical School to increase knowledge of osteoporosis among medical students and residents. Activities generated through this gift include OsteoEd, an osteoporosis education website, the ROSE project (Rural/Underserved Osteoporosis Student Educator project), and lectures by UW and outside experts in osteoporosis.

Dr. Bergen passed away on August 1, 2007, at the age of 96. In memoriam.