CBHA welcomes Patricia Williamson, MSN, FNPC

Patricia (Patti) Williamson grew up in the St. Louis area of Missouri. She spent the first 30 years of her working life as an executive in the insurance industry. Along the way she developed an interest in medicine. She describes herself as a “caregiver by nature” and actually loves taking care of people. She made a decision to go back to school earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Maryville University in St. Louis in 2003. She continued working towards her goal of becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner by earning a Master of Science in Nursing (Adult Nurse Practitioner) in 2006 and, finally, in 2010, she received her Post-Graduate Certificate as a Family Nurse Practitioner.

“I continued working at my day job in insurance while going to school in addition to raising four teenagers,” she said. Looking back she realized it was a lot to accomplish; however, she found she had a passion for healthcare and “loved doing it.” Later she discovered she also really enjoyed teaching the nurse practitioner students.

Patti worked in an acute medical care and internal medicine setting for a number of years. She also performed primary and episodic urgent care in various clinics at natural gas and oil pipeline sites in Illinois and Missouri, a work she found very interesting. “I came to love the people, nomads really, who worked at these drilling sites,” she said. “Their work was dangerous and often lonely because they were away from their families.” When Patti decided she wanted to return to a clinical setting, she chose several clinics in eastern Washington to consider. However, after interviewing at CBHA and seeing all the services it offers to its patients, Patti decided she would not interview elsewhere. “I chose CBHA because of its dedication to provide medical, dental, vision and pharmacy services to all its patients regardless of their ability to pay,” she said. “In past work experiences, I have seen that this is not always what happens.”

When asked about her personal interests and hobbies, Pattie replied that she “really hasn’t had much time up until now for hobbies.” She does have lots of interests. She started out with a Bachelor of Arts degree and was a theater major. She still likes the theater; she also loves to sing. Reading is a favorite pastime; she is currently rereading “Pride and Prejudice,” one of her favorite books. She prefers the classics and often enjoys listening to them in audio book form. She is interested in improving her Spanish language skills. “I do have a limited working knowledge of some medical terms,” she concluded.