LAKEPORT >> March is Women’s History Month, and Sutter Lakeside Hospital is proud to celebrate the female members of its senior management team.
To Siri Nelson, Chief Administrative Officer of Sutter Lakeside Hospital, leadership is equal parts compassion, counseling, selflessness and patience.
Nelson, a San Francisco native, has served as Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s administrator since 2009, but has a storied job history that includes mortuary housekeeper, bank teller, library page, preschool teacher, stay-at-home mom, and convenience store owner and operator.
“Working with hospitals as a public accountant was my first exposure to working in healthcare,” said Nelson. “I liked the complexity of healthcare accounting. It’s not always black and white, so I appreciated the challenge. However, in the late eighties the public accounting atmosphere was very hard on women and not conducive to raising a family.”
After a stint as a stay at home mom with her two young boys, Nelson went back to work as the regional director of finance for St. Joseph’s Regional Health System Finance, then as the finance director for the San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency. However, her time at Sutter Amador as Chief Financial Officer taught her to see the people behind the numbers.
“At Sutter Amador I became more involved with the clinicians and the difference they made in patients’ lives. I appreciate what they do and the impact they have on others. I learned that cultivating a high-quality environment for employees leads to better care for patients.
“Eight months into my tenure at Sutter Amador, we began the search for a new CEO. I served as interim CEO at suggestion of Sarah Krevans [now President and CEO of Sutter Health], during which our only general surgeon quit with two days’ notice. Sarah stayed true to her word to provide support whenever I needed it. We hired Anne Platt as Amador’s CEO, and Anne continued to give me opportunities to learn outside of a CFO’s normal range.”
True to her past of working jobs outside the box, Nelson learned the ins and outs of operating a rural hospital under the mentorship of her new boss, with whom she is still close.
“Anne is successful because she is an expert relationship builder. She always puts patients first, and she helped me grow to see patients as more than numbers on a spreadsheet. She never gets flustered; I learned that a leader should serve as an anxiety-absorber.”
The influence of her mentors still resounds.
“Leadership is about meeting others right where they are. If someone is acting irrationally, it’s my job to figure out what the other trigger may be and help them through it. It’s not about me.”
Nelson attributes her success to the culture of integrity that Sutter continues to develop.
“In my experience, Sutter has always put employees first. I’ve always felt that I could grow. I’ve been challenged but appreciated. My job provides everything I could want from a career; I’ve never seen a glass ceiling. It comes down to doing. Raise your hand, say ‘I’ll do it,’ and then do it. Don’t let the words ‘That’s not my job’ sneak into your vocabulary.”
