Providence Swedish caregiver is among this year's PSBJ Healthcare Heroes
PSBJ launced the Healthcare Hero Awards in 2023 to publicly recognize the critical role healthcare workers and first responders play in our society.
Stacia Rivera leads a team that is responsible for the safety and security of 11 Providence Swedish campuses throughout the Puget Sound region. And while she may not wear scrubs, her work is vital to the health and well-being of every caregiver, patient and visitor at Providence Swedish.
In June, Stacia was recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) in its second annual Healthcare Hero Awards, which were launched last year to publicly recognize the critical role health care workers and first responders play in our society. Two Providence Swedish caregivers, Jason Goldman, M.D., and RN Nicole Roehrig, were among last year's honorees.
Not all heroes wear capes: Stacia Rivera, who leads security and safety operations at 11 Providence Swedish campuses, was named a 2024 PSBJ Healthcare Hero. The awards were presented at a July ceremony in dowthown Seattle.
Recipients of PSBJ's Healthcare Hero Awards are nominated by their leaders or colleagues, and the group has included registered nurses, researchers, emergency responders and hospital volunteers, just to name a few.
Elizabeth Wako, M.D., president and CEO of Swedish Health Services nominated Stacia, citing her leadership, vision, collaboration and broad skillset. Stacia manages all aspects of campus security and safety, including emergency management and response, campus security personnel and their equipment and protocols (including an extremely successful K9 team), and an expansive workplace violence reduction program.
Among Stacia’s many accomplishments are the implementation of concealed weapons detection systems at all Central Puget Sound emergency departments and the main entrances of our First Hill and Edmonds campuses, introduction of K9 caregivers Blue, Emy and IV at our Edmonds, Cherry Hill and First Hill emergency departments, and expansion of our workplace violence reduction program, which in 2023 reduced workplace violence-related injuries by an astounding 53%.
David Selander, M.D., executive medical director at Providence Swedish, says he is continually astonished by Stacia’s passion, expertise, energy and commitment to excellence.
“Stacia is so extraordinarily focused on the needs of our patients that I often forget that she has never been a clinical bedside caregiver. Her passion and caring are not to the detriment of excellence in her job or practicality. I honestly do not understand how she has so many different and expanding roles across such a large and growing geographic area, and yet seems to always be on top of events and an expert in everything that is asked of her,” says Dr. Selander. “Stacia is also a strategic thought-leader in patient and caregiver safety with a laser-focus on equity and racial justice, which is central to everything we do at Providence Swedish. And despite all that is on her plate, Stacia comes to work every day with a sense of humor; she is down-to-earth and a joy to be around.”
About Providence Swedish
Providence Swedish has served the Puget Sound region since the first Providence hospital opened in Seattle in 1877 and the first Swedish hospital opened in 1910. The two organizations affiliated in 2012 and today comprise the largest health care delivery system in Western Washington, with 22,000 caregivers, eight hospitals and 244 clinics throughout Western Washington – from Everett to Centralia. A not-for-profit family of organizations, Providence Swedish provides more than $545 million in community benefit in the Puget Sound region each year. The health system offers a comprehensive range of services and specialty and subspecialty care in a number of clinical areas, including cancer, cardiovascular health, neurosciences, orthopedics, digestive health and women’s and children’s care.
