Boswell, H. James.  American Blue Book Western Washington, Seattle, Lowman and  
Hanford Co., 1922.  p. 211.

DR. PAUL A. TURNER: I DON'T think there can be any question but what 
Washington is one of the best governed states in the country, and I think that 
official statistics will bear me out in this assertion.  The secret for this 
is found in the fact that is various departments are presided over by men who 
are exceptionally well qualified for the positions they hold.  One of the 
ablest state officials, in my opinion, is Dr. Paul A. Turner, State Director 
of Public Health, with headquarters in Seattle.  If the official statistics 
are gone over, it will be found that Washington has a mortality rate that is, 
perhaps, much lower than in many other states of the Union.  Dr. Turner was 
born in Maine, in 1882.  From Amherst College he took his A. B. degree in 
1904, and from the College of Physicians, Columbia University, he took his M. 
D. degree in 1908.  He served as intern in Bellevue and other large hospitals, 
and located in Seattle in 1910.  Dr. Turner was named as State Director of 
Public Health in 1921 by Gov. Louis F. Hart.  He has twelve employees in his 
department, aside from his first assistant, Dr. Simpson, in charge of the 
laboratory.  To occupy such a position as that held by Dr. Turner, the 
incumbent must, of absolute necessity, be a man well qualified, one who not 
only enjoys a reputation from the standpoint of a physician, but as a 
sanitarian as well, a man, in other words, who must be capable of coping with 
any health condition that might arise and be equal to the occasion.  Dr. 
Turner, in 1917, married Miss Alice Hayden, and they have one child, a 
daughter.  Dr. Turner, during the World war, served a s first lieutenant in 
the Medical corps, and was assigned to the 163rd Field Hospital and saw one 
and on half years of active service at Chateau Thierry and the Argonne.  He 
was mustered out in 1920, with the rank of captain.  Dr. Turner is a member of 
the King County Medical Society, American Medical association, American Public 
Health association and other equally well known bodies.

Submitted by: Judy Bivens

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Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies
Project.  Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the
individual featured in the biographies.