Submitted by Providence Swedish
Michael Deiss, RN, was born at Providence Centralia Hospital and graduated from Tenino High School in 2003. He had no idea what he was going to do with his life. His mother, Lisa, was a nurse at Providence St. Peter Hospital and with the help of some friends who worked there, Michael got a job in the dietary department.
On July 28, Michael celebrated 20 years with Providence Swedish in South Puget Sound. Since 2009, he’s served as a nurse in the Oncology Unit on the third floor at St. Peter Hospital. Using the education benefits provided by Providence, Michael has saved thousands of dollars over the years as he added degrees and changed roles. He doesn’t even know how much but says he couldn’t have done it alone.
“Providence has really given me everything,” Michael said recently, reflecting on his time in the organization. “I was a small-town kid without many goals, but I knew there were some options through the organization, and they built me up. I worked at it, but I give Providence the credit for giving me the resources to become who I am.”
How does Providence benefit its caregivers through workforce development?
Providence offers access to tuition-free degrees, up to $5,250 a year in covered or reimbursed tuition on many programs, and partners with caregivers internally with programs such as paid, on-the-job training.
James Townsend started at St. Peter Hospital in the linen department. After working at a local gym for years, he wanted a career, not just a job. “I knew there was more for me in a healthcare setting,” he said.
After a few months, he was approached about the Surgical Technician Apprenticeship program. He didn’t even know what a “scrub tech” was. A traditional Surgical Technician program takes two years of college and could cost up to $20,000. Between classes and clinicals, it’s difficult for a student to work anything but night shifts while attending school. Because of the requirements and costs, hospitals such as Providence St. Peter were finding it difficult to fill the positions — which are critical to keeping an operating room running.
Surgical Technicians, or Scrub Techs, handle the sterile equipment in surgery, setting up the room for the nurses and surgeons and maintaining a sterile field to prevent infections.
James jumped at the internal opportunity, and six months later, he completed the program and became a full-time Surgical Technician, making nearly double what he made when he joined Providence.
“To be able to work and be paid while I was learning on the job was incredible,” James said. “I don’t think I would have been able to do it otherwise. I still remember getting lost pushing linen carts around, and now I’m like, ‘Wow, this has been such an incredible journey.’”
Career opportunities with Providence
Providence values the individual contributions caregivers such as Michael and James bring to the organization. Providence is the largest employer in Lewis County and the largest private employer in Thurston County.
If you’re interested in the opportunity to live in a community you love, work in a setting you enjoy, and take advantage of tremendous possibilities for education and professional advancement, take a look at the career opportunities available at Providence Jobs – Careers.
“I straight up in my first interview said I was going to use the hospital education program to pay for me to go to school because I wanted to become a nurse,” Michael said. “They hired me anyway, and now it certainly doesn’t feel like I’ve been here 20 years. It’s been a great relationship – Providence really built me.”
About Providence Swedish
Providence Swedish in South Puget Sound touches more lives in the 540,000 five-county service area of Thurston, Mason, Lewis, Grays Harbor and Pacific counties than any other health care provider.
It is made up of:
Providence St. Peter Hospital is a 372-bed, not-for-profit regional teaching hospital founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1887 with three-time Magnet® recognition. The Magnet Recognition Program® recognizes the top healthcare organizations in the nation for providing nursing excellence. Only two other hospitals in Washington have garnered this honor. In 2023, Providence St. Peter was named Best Regional Hospital in US News and World Report (Peninsula Region) and No. 13 in Washington. The hospital was named “high performing” in nine different categories. St. Peter is a regional leader in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics and neurosciences. The Joint Commission has designated the hospital a Stroke Center of Excellence since 2007.
Providence Centralia Hospital is a 128-bed, not-for-profit community-based hospital that was awarded Pathway to Excellence nursing designation. The services the hospital provides make it the heart of medical care in Lewis County. As a community hospital with outstanding technology, Providence Centralia Hospital is large enough to provide state-of-the-art services such as MRI, 64-slice CT scans and digital mammography. The hospital is also small enough to offer personal, compassionate care to everyone it serves.
Providence Medical Group operates more than 40 clinic locations, with more than 1,000 primary, specialty-care and hospital-based providers in Lewis, Thurston, Mason and Grays Harbor counties. The group provides primary and specialty care. All 11 primary care clinics are level-3 accredited by the NCQA. Clinics include family medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, neurosurgery, oncology, diabetes care, general surgery, endocrinology, obstetrics/gynecology, infectious disease services, physiatry, psychiatry and urology.
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