Celebrating Our Nurses, Hospital Teams, and EMS Partners

By: Michael Mulkey, Chief Executive Officer, Willamette Valley Medical Center

A career in healthcare is not for the faint of heart. It requires strength, determination, courage, and a selfless regard for others. Over the past few years, healthcare workers have faced an increasingly challenging work environment as our industry has undergone immense change caused by the pandemic and other external pressures. For these reasons, it is important to pause and recognize the many hard-working healthcare workers that live and work in our communities. Throughout the month of May, we celebrate three important national observances that honor our nurses, hospital teams, and EMS personnel for their professional achievements and significant contributions.

National Nurses Week (May 6-12) celebrates our more than 225 nurses and nursing assistants who serve as dedicated and dependable caregivers for patients and their loved ones throughout their healthcare journey. Whether a routine check-up at your provider’s office, an outpatient visit, or a trip to our emergency department with a hospital stay, our nurses provide compassionate, individualized care, knowing that every patient is unique.

National Hospital Week (May 7-13) honors hospitals, health systems, and healthcare workers across the country and the innovative ways they are supporting and connected to their community. Willamette Valley Medical Center is proud to have more than 670 providers and employees on our team, who provide constant care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure that our community members have access to the care they need, when they need it. For the individuals often working behind the scenes to ensure our facilities are clean, safe, and have the necessary resources to care for our patients, to the providers and staff who work at the bedside, everyone has a unique and important role to play in the delivery of care.

Finally, National EMS Week (May 21-27) recognizes emergency services personnel and other first responders who partner with us to provide lifesaving care to critical patients and serve as an important extension of our hospital in the community. Often the first to arrive at the scene of an accident or disaster, providing emergency care in potentially fatal situations before a patient arrives at the hospital, we are grateful for your services which help us save lives when minutes matter most.

I am honored and grateful to work alongside these dedicated individuals, who are helping Willamette Valley Medical Center advance our mission of making communities healthier. Thank you to our nurses, hospital teams, and EMS partners for your commitment, your care, and for never giving up despite the ongoing challenges and changes facing our industry.

Please join me in showing your gratitude for the local healthcare workers in your lives – friends, neighbors, family members, acquaintances, or even strangers. They deserve our recognition, appreciation, and support this month and year-round for everything they do.

We appreciate your continued support and look forward to serving Yamhill County, today and for generations to come.