Marca D., RN, MS - Patient Care Coordinator
 I value the role of VHOCC in our community and feel fortunate to be involved with the organization. I have a Master's degree in Adult Nursing and have lived and worked on the peninsula since 1980. I retired after 31 years (23 as Director of the Nursing Program) at Peninsula College in 2013. I began working as a per diem nurse for VHOCC in 2010 and retired 2019 to serve on the board. I came back to join the nursing staff in June 2021. My other nursing experience has included several stints in community health nursing in Asia, Africa and Central America. I was also activated for the first Gulf War and served in Saudi Arabia with a naval fleet hospital. In the US I have worked in hospital settings, primarily critical care, as well as community and home health settings. I've been married for more than 51 years to John and we have a grown daughter who works as a teacher in SW Washington. We have horses, elderly chickens and a dog and grow a garden. We love to travel. I am a quilter and a knitter and love walking and running. |
Elizabeth P., RN, MSN - Patient Care Coordinator
 After 52 years of nursing, Elizabeth is still passionate about patient care. Neuro-rehabilitation nursing has taken up the majority of that time, while running her husband's physical therapy offices and maintaining a wound clinic for over 15 years. An amateur photographer, Elizabeth drinks up the peninsula beauty, in her free-time. It is her love of, and belief in VHOCC's mission that has seduced her back from retirement. |
Melissa A., RN
 Melissa, who goes by Mel, has been a nurse since 2014, mostly in critical care and in the emergency room. She worked as a travel nurse for a few years. Even though she enjoyed living and helping people in various communities, she was ready to settle down in Sequim. "I absolutely love holistic nursing. Caring for the whole person is my passion." It brings her great joy to support people and use her empathy and compassion to relate to them in an uplifting way. She spends her free time hiking, backpacking, cooking fresh meals for her friends and family, doing yoga, biking, and dancing. |
Haley B., RN, BSN
 With 18 years of experience as a Registered Nurse, Haley brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to VHOCC. In addition to her background in critical care, Haley's passion for helping others has resulted in her dedicating the last five years to hospice and palliative care. Haley enjoys gardening, hiking, exploring, and traveling far and wide. Originally from the deserts of the Southwest, she has now lived in Port Angeles for just over a year and is excited to be a part of this amazing community. |
Jenn C., RN
 Jenn C. has been an RN since 2011, working in several areas of nursing including ER, psychiatric nursing, and found her passion in hospice nursing in 2019. For her, it is an honor and a privilege to walk with her fellow humans through their final journey on this earth, it is the most important time of any of our lives. Jenn relocated to the Olympic Peninsula in March 2020 from Texas where she had lived her entire life. She says, "I feel like I have been dropped in heaven being surrounded by such beauty!" She and her husband enjoy SCUBA diving, hiking, paddleboarding, running, and caring for their four-legged children on their free time.
|
Sher C., RN
 Originally from Alaska, Sher first moved to the Olympic Peninsula in 1974. After graduating from Peninsula College with a nursing degree, she returned to Alaska. There she gained experience in nursing and management at a high quality non-profit tribal organization including working in remote Native villages to support and ready them for accreditation. While Alaska will always be her home, Sher returned to Sequim to be closer to family, where she worked at Olympic Medical Center, helping them meet and exceed regulatory requirements. When an opening became available at VHOCC in 2012, she saw it as "an opportunity to experience the true essence of being a nurse" and worked there until 2014. An unexpected opportunity and challenge came from a local tribal entity to coordinate all aspects required for AAAHC accreditation. After having achieved this monumental task with tenacity, trials and tribulations, Sher and her husband relocated to Forks to continue their medical careers. This was another memorable adventure and experience for them, but Forks was too far from their family. Relocating back to Sequim, Sher knew that she wanted to return to VHOCC because "caring for persons in hospice had left an indelible mark on my heart and soul." |
Tammy D., CNA
 Tammy's love for people and desire to help others through hard times are what drew her to work with VHOCC. Comforting others, she says, brings her life great satisfaction. Having lived her entire life in Port Angeles, Tammy counts the Olympic Peninsula's salt water and mountains as precious. In addition, she enjoys visiting family, singing, fishing, and hiking. |
Olivia F., RN, BSN
 Olivia Ford was born in Utah, raised in Idaho, and is now living the Pacific Northwest (PNW) dream. Her nursing background has primarily been in home health and hospice. She obtained an Associate's degree from College of Southern Idaho and a Bachelor's degree from Lewis-Clark State College. Olivia excitedly joined the VHOCC team and feels good about the work that she is doing. When not working, she enjoys time with her family in the outdoors hiking, biking, crabbing, or cutting firewood for their home. |
Mary J., RN
 Mary has lived in the Port Angeles-Sequim community for the majority of her life. For 35 years, she worked as a Registered Nurse in a variety of jobs, the majority with inpatient intensive care, oncology. Mary's experience includes working at VHOCC with Rose Crumb early in Mary's nursing career. Mary said, "I feel honored to have worked with Rose Crumb as an RN and that she cared for my mother when she was dying, actually both my parents." Mary is bookending her career by returning to this organization. She is passionate about the outdoors, gardening, and her family. She was a Fisheries Biologist for ten years before changing careers to nursing. She is still always out on the beaches looking for exciting finds. |
Lynda P, RN
 |
Jeanette M., CNA
 Jeanette has a passion for serving others and working in hospice allows her to do just that. "My favorite part of the job is that I can be a support system to the families and the patients I care for." |
Gary S., BS, BSN, RN, CHPN
 After his time as an Army paratrooper, and then as a member of The Old Guard (the Army's ceremonial unit), Gary became a firefighter/advanced life support paramedic. Later in life, he felt nursing was where he should be. In nursing school, Gary chose to study to become an ICU nurse and took extra classes in the ICU as part of the clinical portion of his nursing program. However, an experience taking care of a hospital patient on "comfort measures" pushed him directly into the path of hospice. Gary has been an RN for about ten years and has been in the field of hospice most of that time. Sometimes, when people ask him how he can be a hospice nurse, he commonly replies, "How could I not?" |
Christy W., RN
 Originally from New Mexico, Christy worked as an LPN for 20 years. One year after moving to Port Angeles in 1984, she married a fire fighter/paramedic. In 1996, she earned her Associate of Nursing degree at Peninsula College. From there, she worked in the emergency department at Olympic Medical Center (OMC) for twenty-two years and then two years in Home Health. VHOCC has a special place in Christy's heart because our team of nurses cared for her husband until he died in 2021. Christy is an avid parrot owner with a wide range of hobbies. She not only loves bird watching, but also gardening, photography, traveling, and storytelling. She has been involved with the Story People of Clallam County for many years, serving as their festival director for five years and as Board President. |
Lynn W., BSN, RN, MS
 Lynn was born and raised in Nebraska. In 1982, she married Scott, a now-retired Air Force pilot. They raised two sons together while juggling military life and Lynn's work as a registered nurse. Being a military family meant moving frequently over the years, which afforded Lynn many opportunities to work with various age groups and in multiple settings as a nurse. The family settled in Port Angeles in 1997, where they now live close to their sons, daughters-in-law, and four wonderful grandchildren. Lynn felt called to hospice in 2017 and feels that working for VHOCC is a sacred honor. This work has brought the most meaning to her both personally and professionally in her life-long nursing career.
|
Molly W., RN, BSN
 Molly has lived all over - born in Durham, North Carolina, raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and on the move ever since - finally landing in Port Angeles in 2015. Along the way she became a nurse, with her first hospice experience at Rainbow Hospice & Palliative Care in Chicago in 2014. It was then Molly realized that hospice is where she belongs - providing compassionate end of life care for free to those in the community. In her spare time, Molly enjoys hiking, walking her dogs, camping, and eating good food with friends and family.
|
Priya Jayadev holds a Doctorate in Cell Biology from Duke University. Prior to moving to the Olympic Peninsula in 2011, Priya worked at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, taking on increasing levels of responsibility within the Research & Development organizations. In October 2013, Priya became Executive Director of Clallam Mosaic, a community-based nonprofit in Port Angeles serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through her tenure, Priya built strong ties and partnerships in the community, region, and state. She identified and increased programs to better meet community needs. She grew and diversified Clallam Mosaic's budget, developed and implemented programs, and extended the organization's reach, impact, and visibility. Additionally, Priya serves on the Nonprofit Association of Washington's Board. She is a governor-appointed member of the Washington ABLE Board and is a Collaborative Thought Partner with the Department of Health. In speaking of her new role, she shared this: "My family and I have benefited tremendously from hospice services in the past and I am excited to become a part of an organization that has provided such invaluable end-of-life comfort and support for over 40 years. I hope to support and evolve Rose Crumb's vision to provide free heartfelt end-of-life care in Clallam County."
Astrid obtained an MA in Political Science in France and an MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology in California. She held various managerial positions in non-profit groups, small businesses, and large corporations. Following a close friend's death, her heart found its place in hospice and she started to volunteer in 1996, primarily in California (Sutter VNA, Zen Hospice Project, Hinds Hospice) before moving to the Olympic Peninsula and finding VHOCC. She was invited to join the Board in May 2015 and accepted the position of Volunteer Services Manager in January 2016. She and her husband raised 3 adopted boys while living on a ranch, and continue their love of growing food with a small microgreens business.
As a customer-centric administrative, client services, and hospitality professional, Anita finds fulfillment in contributing to the needs and care of others while creating efficiencies and ensuring smooth daily operations. With prior employment at nationally known construction firms and top-ranked inns, Anita brings her attention to detail, care, and organizational skills to VHOCC. Her family has been on the receiving end of Hospice care, so she appreciates this level of care and wants to give back to the community. This North Carolina native lived in California for 16 years before relocating to the Olympic Peninsula in 2018 due to its beauty, diversity and smaller town living. She enjoys hiking, cycling, photography, cooking, and spending time with friends.
Being a Texas native, Heather graduated from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She moved to the Olympic Peninsula in 2008 to pursue her passion in journalism and work at the Peninsula Daily News. Heather has been involved with newspapers since she was in high school. Her career includes customer service, administrative support, and journalism roles. She looks forward to expanding her skills and developing new ones as the VHOCC Administrative Assistant. Her family has benefited from hospice care and she believes in VHOCC's mission. Heather loves to read, write and hike. She has a green thumb with house plants, and she enjoys baking and cooking occasionally for friends.