August 17, 2004

Colleagues:

Our beloved friend and irreplaceable and exceptional advocate, Steve Thompson, passed away at home this morning, after a remarkably short but precipitous struggle with cancer. He was surrounded by the love and presence of his wife Nancy and his family.

He was diagnosed only 6 short weeks ago, before which he was basically asymptomatic. Steve remarkably continued to champion the issues dear to him and CMA in both the Legislature and the office until just a few days ago. His sense of humor, sharp wit, and upbeat attitude prevailed throughout the past weeks. In the past several weeks he testified for us on various important issues, and he attended numerous meetings with me and other physician leaders on a variety of key issues right up to the end.

Steve leaves behind a huge legacy of contributions to physicians, and to the health of every Californian. To say he will be missed is an understatement. Alll of us who love Steve are grateful that Senate President ProTem John Burton and the Legislature are dedicating the California Physician Corps legislation and program to Steven M. Thompson. He worked hard to get this program enacted. It offers physicians the opportunity to practice in underserved areas and get their medical school and residency loans and debts repaid at the same time. Steve, the champion of the uninsured and the underserved, loved this program.

The flag at the state Capitol is flying at half-staff in memory of Steve by order of the governor.

Funeral services for Steve Thompson will be held on Saturday, August 21 at 10:00 am at Trinity Cathedral Church, 2620 Capitol Avenue in Sacramento. In lieu of flowers, Steve's family has requested that donations be made to the new internship fund. Donations can be sent to: CMA Access-to-Care Internship, c/o California Medical Association, 1201 J Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814.

Please keep Steve's family, his wife Nancy, and his kids—Sky, Peter, Hallie, and Scott—along with Steve, in your prayers.

Media Coverage/Obituaries:

Los Angles Times
Steven Thompson, 62; Helped
Shape Healthcare Policy
Steven M. Thompson, among California's most influential healthcare policy analysts and lobbyists, died Tuesday in Sacramento. He was 62. Thompson was governmental affairs director for the California Medical Assn. for the last 12 years. Before that, he was a close aide to former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, serving as his chief of staff and director of the Assembly Office of Research in the 1980s and early '90s. "He was central to my operation," Brown said Tuesday. "Steven was probably the most brilliant of all of them. He was the health guy for the state of California." Thompson was known as "the Health SMIC" — short for "smartest man in California" — on healthcare-related issues...In an unusual display of respect for an unelected Capitol denizen, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered statehouse flags lowered to half-staff. The state Senate interrupted its work, pausing to rename a 2002 program that Thompson helped create to help defray medical school loans for students who agree to work in areas where there is a dearth of medical care. The program will be known as the Steven M. Thompson Physician Corps Loan Repayment Program...

Los Angeles Times, Letters
Steve Thompson
The Times' excellent obituary for Steve Thompson (Aug. 18) was a fitting tribute to this bright, ethical and dedicated champion for better healthcare for all Californians. The absolute high point of my tenure as the California Medical Assn.'s CEO was meeting Steve, recruiting him and ultimately prevailing upon him to join our staff as chief lobbyist in early 1992...

San Francisco Examineer
The last good lobbyist
Soon enough there will be time in this space for items and the frenzy and folderol of 'Frisco. Today, we do something different here: Let us now praise a not-so-famous man. ...The obituary notices refer to Steve Thompson , who died in Sacramento Tuesday at age 62, as a lobbyist. True, he had represented the California Medical Association in the state house since 1992, but calling Thompson a lobbyist is like calling the Sierras a pile of pebbles. Thompson has also been called a political operator. That too is misleading. Those terms -- lobbyist, political operator -- have the whiff of the tawdry about them. The best of California's lobbyists and political operators, like Steve Thompson, are more akin to civics teachers. About them is a spirit of candor, concern and steadfastness that elevates seemingly base political work into beneficent public service...

Sacramento Bee
Editorial: A lion of a lobbyist
It is hard to imagine the Capitol without the baritone voice of Steve Thompson thundering from behind some closed door. A longtime chief lobbyist for the California Medical Association , the 62-year-old Thompson suddenly succumbed to a voracious, fast-moving cancer in his organs. To characterize him under this single loaded word - lobbyist - woefully fails to capture the value inside Sacramento politics of Thompson, one of a vanishing breed of veteran warriors. This was no salesman in a suit. This was a brilliant mind, honed by decades of experience inside and outside the Legislature.

Sacramento Bee
Allies, adversaries recall Thompson
as Capitol's behind-the-scenes master
In the sometimes-inscrutable ways of the California Capitol, no one knew how to make things happen like health care lobbyist Steve Thompson. A former chief of staff for one-time Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, Thompson was a behind-the-scenes power for nearly 40 years. He died Tuesday at 62 after a brief but furious fight with cancer...

San Francisco Chronicle
Steve Thompson -- health care lobbyist
Steve Thompson, one of the most influential and effective lobbyists in the state Capitol, died Tuesday of cancer at his Sacramento home. He was 62. Mr. Thompson was a denizen of the Capitol for 40 years, serving as former Assembly Speaker Willie Brown's chief of staff for four years and head of the Assembly Office of Research for six. He was chief lobbyist for the California Medical Association since 1992. "In politics you have to have passion, knowledge and perspective to succeed. Stevie had all three," said John Mockler, a friend since 1965...

Sacramento Business Journal
CMA lobbyist Steve Thompson dies
Steve Thompson, a longtime lobbyist for the California Medical Association, died at home Tuesday morning of cancer. He was 62. The flag at the state Capitol is flying at half-staff by order of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger...

San Jose Mercury News
Veteran legislative aide,
medical lobbyist dies
Steve Thompson, the longtime voice of the powerful California Medical Association in the Capitol, died Tuesday of cancer at his home. He was 62 years old. A former chief of staff to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and a budget and policy analyst for a variety of state agencies, Thompson had spent the last 12 years as the association's chief lobbyist...