A Culture of Caring EvergreenHealth’s longest-tenured employees say support and compassion from generations of leaders and colleagues have kept them committed to the health system’s mission for decades Liz Minetti, RN Joined Evergreen General Hospital in 1976 On December 10, 1976 – four years after Evergreen General Hospital opened its doors to the Eastside community – Elizabeth Minetti began her 45-year nursing career with the health system. An Eastern Washington native, Minetti attended Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Spokane, graduating in 1973. After a quick detour to Portland, Minetti moved to Seattle where she met and married her husband in 1974. After a few years of working as a nurse at a Seattle hospital, Minetti was excited to learn that Evergreen General Hospital was planting its roots on the Eastside. Not only was the hospital located within walking distance of her house, she also no longer had to wear an all-white dress ensemble – she could finally wear pants to work. As Minetti was beginning her career at EvergreenHealth, the hospital and the surrounding community were rising from their humble beginnings. In 1976, the hospital was brand-new – deer still wandered the grounds and Minetti and her colleagues spent their breaktimes picking blackberries in the bushes where the Central parking garage is now located. “EvergreenHealth feels like a family, and it did right from the start,” said Minetti. “When you walk in the door, you feel an energy from the people – the employees, the patients, leadership – everyone is treated with respect and empathy. It is a true culture of caring.” During the first couple years of Minetti’s tenure at EvergreenHealth, she cared for patients in the four-bed intensive care unit before transitioning to recovery room nursing, where she’s cared for tens of thousands of patients. “I never needed to look anywhere else to get what I needed. EvergreenHealth has always had a willingness to work with their employees and provided the flexibility I needed.” Today, Minetti works per diem in the Interventional Spine Center and says she isn’t sure when she’ll retire. When she isn’t caring for patients, she’s spending time with her three children and four grandchildren – all of whom were born at EvergreenHealth – and volunteering at a local food bank.
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CONTINUING OUR LEGACY: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF CARE & SERVICE
