Hallie Coppi, Portola Skilled Nursing’s new Director of Nursing (DON), seems to have had a career path carved out for her—all she’s needed to do is keep her eyes open and follow it. She didn’t start out knowing she wanted to be a nurse or work in a skilled nursing facility, however.
Coppi graduated with a B.A. in Business Administration from Gonzaga University, Washington. Raised in Mt. Shasta, she became a wildland fire fighter. While she was living in Bend, OR and fighting wildland fires, she inquired at a skilled nursing facility there regarding possible administration positions, where she could apply her business degree skills. She was informed the only opening they had was for a caregiver, and they asked her if she’d be interested in that position. She told them she’d think about it.
After some consideration, Coppi agreed to take the job. “I’d never thought of this as an option before,” she said. Turns out she loved the work, and from there on her career path took a sharp turn. She received her B.S. degree in Nursing from Drexel University in Philadelphia and planned eventually to work in skilled nursing.
In the meantime, she and her fiancé Casey, who worked alongside her fighting wildland fires in Philadelphia, moved to Portola where Casey took a job as a firefighter with the U.S. Forest Service. Having grown up in Shasta, the environment here wasn’t difficult to get used to. In fact, Coppi said she loves the small town atmosphere—so much so that when she and Casey got married, they bought a house here.
Her first nursing position was in “psych nursing,” she said. And, for the past two years, Coppi has been working in Reno at Renown’s Cardiac ICU unit. “I wanted that acute experience,” she said. The downside, however, was that she felt disconnected from her Portola community. “I’d basically just been sleeping here,” she added.
When the position as Director of Nursing at EPHC’s Skilled Nursing Facility opened up, she jumped at the chance. It seemed made to order. Coppi said she feels more like she belongs now, and she enjoys meeting community members and getting to know them.
She also loves the chance to work as the DON of Skilled Nursing at EPHC because it combines her training in administration and nursing. Even more importantly, because this is a small facility she is involved with both the staff and the patients. In a larger place, she said, she’d just be a middle person directing staff, with no patient care responsibilities. At EPHC, however, she’s directly involved with patients and their families.
Coppi has only been on the job for three weeks, and she said, “I’m just getting my feet wet,” getting to know patients and families. “Once I put the pieces together, it’ll be my ideal job.” Helping in the transition is a staff that “is a breath of fresh air. I’ve never worked with a more compassionate staff anywhere,” said Coppi. “They really care and treat the residents like their family. They also work really well together. Other places I’ve worked, the nurses treat it as a job. Here, they help each other and the residents—I really respect them for that.”
Interestingly, staff members have also described Coppi as “a breath of fresh air,” and her positive outlook and enthusiasm can’t help but add to the family feeling at Portola’s Skilled Nursing Facility. It seems that Coppi, after choosing that sharp turn in her career path, was destined to arrive at EPHC’s doorstep.