Mattawa CBHA Clinic director already feeling at home

MATTAWA - New Columbia Basin Health Association Mattawa Clinic Director Courtney Olson is more than happy with the post she took over in November. She feels as if she's home.

Olson, a Seattle native who adopted Toppenish as her home town in 2008, had been working in western Washington while maintaining her Toppenish home for four years. She was elated when the CBHA opportunity came up.

The assignment kept Courtney in a field she loves, and it cut her cost of living back to one residence. And she fits into the Mattawa community because, although she is of Filipino-Russian descent, she speaks Spanish.

"Not real fluently, but I speak it," she said.

Courtney's journey to Mattawa was a long one. She never planned the career path she has taken. She studied three years at Eastern Washington University, then graduated from the University of Alaska-Anchorage with a degree in philosophy.

Courtney and her husband, Leif Olson, then went to Spain to study Spanish at the Universidad de Nevada. They were going to become Spanish teachers, and their plan included doctorate degrees first.

Then everything changed. Courtney and Leif tired of being students at about the same time and decided to settle down and just go to work.

"I think we'd been in school too long at that point," Courtney said.

The Olsons needed a place to settle down. They had family in Spokane and Seattle. So they chose to live somewhere in between.

"We knew about Toppenish from my father-in-law. He had been a pastor at a church there," Courtney said.

The Olsons bought a home almost in the heart of Toppenish.

Recalling that she had worked as a summer temp at the University of Washington for Harborview Medical Center and the UW Medical Center, Courtney sought and got a position in December, 2008 with a chiropractic clinic with offices in Toppenish and Wapato.

It was clerical work, but the affable Courtney connected with patients and she enjoyed the interaction. One of them told her about a job at Toppenish Community Hospital. She applied and was offered full-time work in patient registration with better pay and benefits, starting in February, 2009.

"I was working all types of shifts," she said. "I enjoyed the late shift. It was quiet, and I was on my own."

At the end of 2010, Courtney became a financial counselor at TCH. But then there was a cutback, and she was laid off in August of 2011.

"I was shocked. I'd never lost a job. I felt awful," Courtney said.

The only way out of her funk, Courtney decided, was to look for a job, any job, even if it was away from health care.

"I was getting a little frustrated," she said.

Then UW billing, where she had applied, called. Apparently her history there helped.

"I got my haircut and got me a new outfit and went to the interview," she said.

Courtney was hired and, fortunately, her parents invited her and Leif to move in with them so they could save money.

"We would go home to Toppenish every weekend," Courtney said. "That was our home. That was where we wanted to be."

Courtney worked in billing again. Her worksite was Harborview. In February of 2012, Courtney was moved up to financial counselor for outpatient services.

In May, Courtney and Leif moved in with a sister-in-law in the Olympia area who needed help with her home and children. Her military husband had been deployed to the Middle East.

Courtney was fearful of driving the commute to Harborview. It took about two hours to get to work and home, mostly by public transportation.

"I was pretty exhausted all of the time," she said. "I slept on the train."

Courtney was encouraged by a supervisor to apply for supervisor of the Harborview ER for patient registration. Courtney wasn't sure she was ready or wanted the position but, at the supervisor's urging applied.

After three interviews and committing herself to two years of service, Courtney was handed the position. It came with 27 staff persons to supervise. And she had to deal with nurses, doctors, residents and law enforcement, all in a rush at the Northwest's premier trauma hospital.

"I saw everything, smelled everything," Courtney said. "Sometimes I cried."

Courtney noted that she and her staff were always on call. Trauma never rests. They had to deal with the mudslide victims from Oso and the downtown Seattle news helicopter crash.

Courtney had fulfilled her commitment, plus some, when in 2014 she'd had enough.

"And I missed being in Toppenish," she said.

Courtney went online searching for a medical management position. She applied at Yakima Memorial and Yakima Regional, and then she saw the CBHA opportunity.

"What's that?" she wondered.

She read further and was impressed. It suited her education and experience. She filled out the application while attending to Harborview patients.

After two weeks of hearing nothing, Courtney called CBHA human resources and asked for a callback. After a few more days of hearing nothing, she was about to move on to the next possibility.

Then CBHA called. She interviewed on a Monday and was offered the post a week later. She was to start in November.

"I was so happy. I was so excited," she said. "I was going to manage an entire clinic, and I was going to come home."

The commute for Courtney is about 75 minutes on open roads with pastoral views and sunshine. It's nothing compared to western Washington commutes, Courtney said.