E
lissa curry, rn believes it was fate that led her to Provi-
dence Hospital when she moved to Washington, D.C. in
2009.
"I was heading to another hospital," she said. "But I missed a turn
and I ended up at Providence."
Curry filled out an application, was called in for an interview the
next day, and was hired on the spot. With that, she began what she
says has been the most rewarding chapter in her two decades of
nursing.
It's also been the most challenging.
"The patients have so many comorbidities. We got a lot of
patients from groups homes, a lot of seniors, mental health
[patients], drug abusers, psych patients," said Curry, who works as a
perioperative nurse. Her patients often struggle to articulate their
symptoms or offer a comprehensive medical history. "Rarely can
they tell you what medications they are on."
The nurses at Providence share a tight bond, drawn together by
their commitment to provide the best care to those who are too
often overlooked. It was devotion to Christ, observed through serv-
ice to the poor, that inspired the Daughters of Charity to open the
hospital back in 1861 at the invitation of Abraham Lincoln and Con-
gress. Today, 86 percent of those who receive care at Providence
Hospital are insured through Medicare or Medicaid. The hospital
serves the east side of D.C., a virtual health care desert. "The nurses I
work with just love taking care of underserved, the poor, the indi-
gent," Curry reflected. "We just love doing it. It's amazing."
But in July, Providence's owner, Ascension, which is the nation's
largest nonprofit health system and world's largest Catholic health
system, announced its intention to end acute-care services at the
hospital. Just weeks later, Providence management called an urgent
town hall meeting. Curry recalled how the standing-room-only
crowd fell silent when the hospital managers announced the entire
hospital was scheduled to close Dec. 28, just a day after Curry's
birthday.
16 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8
HIGHER CALLING
In speaking out to save Providence Hospital, Elissa Curry
stretched her comfort zone to advocate for her patients
beyond the bedside. BY RACHEL BERGER
