‘True humanitarian’ Dr. Alan Chun retires from ICHS after 31 years of service to the community
With a big smile, Dr. Alan Chun hugs Jannie Choi, ICHS Nutrition Assistant, as she and Aliya Haq, ICHS Nutrition Services Manager, wish him a happy retirement during his celebration on February 27, 2025.
Beloved doctor and mentor to many, Alan Chun, MD, has announced he is retiring from International Community Health Services (ICHS) this spring 2025. He concludes a 31-year, multi-role career at ICHS.
"With years of experience, poise, patience, empathy and umpteen medical knowledge Dr. Chun embodies the meaning of the word ‘physician,’" said Dr. Mandeep Walia, ICHS PACE Medical Director. "His years of dedication to his patients, the field of medicine, and to serving the marginalized and underserved population speaks to the core of who he is as a person, a true humanitarian.”
Dr. Chun grew up in Honolulu and received his medical degree from University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa John A. Burns School of Medicine. He joined ICHS in 1994 as its medical director, leading ICHS’ patient care and clinical practices during a pivotal period of growth.
When he started, ICHS was officially named the “International District Clinic.” It operated a single clinic in Seattle’s Chinatown International District at 416 Maynard Ave South, serving around 5,000 patients annually.
The “Maynard Clinic” as veteran ICHS staff still call it, was located at 416 Maynard Ave South, the current location of New Century Tea Gallery.
Dr. Chun served as medical director for over a decade. New leaders like himself and Dorothy Wong, executive director who started in 1993, were part of “new leadership and a big leap forward” of the organization, local writer and former ICHS Foundation executive director Ron Chew writes in A Documentary History.
Shortly after starting his role, ICHS expanded locations and services. In 1996, ICHS launched its “first foray outside the International District” with a medical clinic on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in South Seattle. Named the “Holly Park Medical & Dental Clinic,” Holly Park Clinic,” it was chosen as ICHS’ newest site to better serve immigrant and refugee communities that had been moving further and further south.
Dr. Alan Chun, Bob Santos, one of ICHS’ founders, and Dorothy Wong, Executive Director, cut the ribbon at Holly Park Medical & Dental Clinic opening, 1996.
1996 also saw the opening of a new for-profit Chinese Traditional Medicine clinic, the beginning of dental services and bigger-picture advocacy in a strengthening movement to create the Community Health Plan of Washington, to provide stable community clinic funding across Washington state, to serve underserved Washingtonians.
A decade later, in 2004, ICHS served 12,800 patients and was opening the brand new and modern ICHS Holly Park Medical & Dental Clinic, which still operates on location to this day.
Though his time as medical director ended, Dr. Chun stayed with ICHS as a family physician, serving patient families of all ages.
Dr. Alan Chun provided care to patients of all ages at ICHS’ International District Medical & Dental Clinic for decades. Photo 2007.
In the 2010s, he took on a new role as a geriatric provider. He served as a visionary leader to conceptualize and bring to fruition a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) to provide holistic care to seniors to “age in place” as they grow older instead of living at a nursing home.
He was pivotal in ICHS’ successful launch in 2019 of ICHS PACE, the first culturally responsive program in our region. Since then, he has served as the PACE physician providing multidisciplinary care to elderly patients at ICHS’ Legacy House.
Dr. Alan Chun checks on a patient who suffered a fall at the International Community Health Services’ medical clinic in their assisted living facility, the Legacy House, on March 20, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. He would serve as physician in ICHS PACE throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Karen Ducey)
Dr. Chun has also embarked in public speaking and panel series to promote well-being for those impacted by chronic illness. In 2024, he spoke on a Northwest Center for Creative Aging panel titled “It’s Here to Stay – Navigating Chronic Illness” at Townhall Seattle.
His outstanding contributions have been recognized by regional partners. Last year, Dr. Chun, MD was honored with the Healthcare Heroes Award from the Puget Sound Business Journal for his commitment to health advocacy and leadership in advancing care for Seattle’s communities of color.
Dr. Alan Chun, holds his 2024 Healthcare Heroes Award from the Puget Sound Business Journal during the awards ceremony on July 11, 2024.
“This was my first community that I actually settled and put roots in,” said Dr. Alan Chun in his 2023 ICHS Bamboo Award acceptance video. “I’ve been able to explore how to expand my capabilities and interests as a physician. These past three decades I feel have been a real integral part of my life.”
“It has been an honor to not only learn from him but to work alongside him,” said Dr. Walia. “I hope to be able to emulate his gift of healing and social conscience one day."
Thinking about his career and what it’s meant to him, Dr. Chun reflects: “I would really want to appreciate all my patients who have stuck with me and given me the opportunities to be of service to them. And in exchange have given me their full trust.”