19 May 2026
While Dr. Griffith is arguably best known for being a founder - alongside Dr. Joe Pizzorno, Dr. Bill Mitchell, and Sheila Quinn - of Bastyr University, he was also significantly involved with the WANP for many years. It is through that lens that I share this (admittedly incomplete) tribute to his work - which literally paved the way for every single naturopathic physician licensed in Washington today.
As part of my research into the history of the WANP in preparation for our 90-year anniversary gala last fall, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Les and his remarkable spouse Catharine. I learned so much from these interactions - including what a kind but "feisty" person Les was. ("I didn't really want to be WANP President, but I was feisty and had run into issues in my own practice.") During these conversations, I got to see Les as a teacher, historian, fierce advocate, and leader for the profession. His ability to connect multiple loose threads for me and help me put together a more comprehensive timeline and understanding of our profession in Washington was invaluable, as I shared in my speech from our gala this past November:
The start of the WANP's fifth decade is where I got to start hearing directly from the people who lived through it. From what I can gather, Dr. Les Griffith is one of the earliest members of the WANP's Board of Directors who are still with us. He joined the Board in 1975 - a full half-century ago.I had heard several times over my years of licensure and involvement with the profession that naturopathic physicians nearly lost our ability to legally practice here in Washington State. I knew that we had been licensed - albeit under a fairly archaic law - since 1919, so I was missing significant context for when or how or why we nearly lost our licenses. It was Drs. Les Griffith and Dan Labriola who provided me that context.
What I learned from these two giants of our profession is that there was a significant move in the 1970s toward "good government" - which emphasized efficiency, transparency, and ethics. The movement started federally, but state legislatures got involved by passing "sunsetting bills" or "sunset legislation" in an effort to increase accountability, reduce government bloat, and ensure programs and agencies justified their continued existence.
Washington State quickly joined the movement and passed the Washington Sunset Act of 1977. The 1919 law regulating Drugless Healers [which I was honestly astounded to learn was the law that our elders and teachers were still practicing under in the 1970s and 1980s] was on the chopping block. Suddenly, the clock was really ticking on the Naturopathic Physician Practice Act that the WANP had been trying to pass since 1935.
The sixth decade of the WANP proved to be among the most significant in terms of legislation. After more than 50 years working to establish a Naturopathic Physician Practice Act in Washington State, WANP's team - Drs. Les Griffith (President), Mark Steinberg (Vice President), Molly Neidermeyer (Secretary), Russ Kolbo (Treasurer), John Bastyr, Tim Birdsall, Jenefer Huntoon, Dan Labriola, Owen Miller, Robert Pennock, and WANP's contract lobbyist Jeff Larsen [whom Les had hired] - finally got the bill passed during the 1987 Legislative Session. While the bill was not everything we all would have wanted, our team fought like hell to achieve a broad and defined scope of practice which we largely still practice under today.
What I have heard repeatedly from many elders in our profession is that this work demanded significant sacrifice from those leading it: extensive time away from their families and their own practices and zero financial support for this time-consuming labor of love for the profession.
It is not an overstatement to say that the scope and recognition that naturopathic physicians enjoy in Washington State today is due in large part to Dr. Les Griffith and his tireless advocacy for full scope practice for our doctors.
We here at the WANP are mourning his loss and sending our love to his family; his clinic family (he was still practicing into his 80s!); all of his colleagues who served alongside him over his many years spent fighting for and with the WANP, Bastyr, and the profession; and all the many others whose lives he touched.
~Angela Ross, ND | Executive Director, WANP
