After 18 years of service to the Association of Healthcare Administrative Professionals, Shelly Dunnington, Mason Health Senior Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer Eric Moll and Chief Medical Officer Dean Gushee, has earned the national Award of Distinction for her contributions and accomplishments in advancing the professionalism of health care administrative support. The award acknowledges individuals who contribute not only to their profession, but to the institution of health care and to their community. Mason Health thanks Dunnington for all her years of service and all that she has contributed to the District.

Born and raised in Shelton, Dunnington has worked at Mason Health since Aug. 23, 1999, first serving as executive assistant to Chief Executive Officer Bob Appel and Chief Financial Officer Renee Youngs. Prior to coming to Mason Health, she worked as an operations manager for a newspaper in Olympia. At Mason Health, she has worked under six different executives and has watched the organization, and her own workload, grow and change with the needs of the community.

“When I first started, I would make files, type up minutes, that sort of thing,” Dunnington recalled. “At the time, we had about 30 contracts and 200 employees. We didn’t have electronic calendars. All the executives had black books. If someone wanted to make an appointment with Bob, I had to run to Bob’s office, get his black book, and run back.”

Now, Mason Health has more than 700 contracts and more than 700 employees. Dunnington’s role has evolved and become more complex; she has additional duties that include working as the claims manager for the hospital, handling public records requests and serving as the public information officer.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic when schools closed, Dunnington became the lead on a project to create a daycare at Mountain View Elementary School for Mason Health employees’ children. She opened and closed the daycare, ordering and delivering lunches and shopping for supplies. She has always enjoyed serving people.

“What excites me is being able to help people,” she said. “It’s not just that you get to help patients, but on a daily basis, I get to help our employees. There are many levels to this job. During COVID, I was able to help people with finding ways to pay their utility bills. The daycare was busy, but at the same time it was fulfilling to know parents had a place to take their children so they could still work.”

Dunnington’s service mentality extends to her time with the Association of Healthcare Administrative Professionals. She joined the national organization to network and connect with other professionals working in her same role, finding camaraderie and support. She chaired the organization’s sponsorship committee for three years, served on the board for four years and worked on the conference planning and education committees. Her work has helped other executive assistants from rural hospitals, such as the one in Forks, attend the national conference for the first time.

“Understanding that you are not alone in this and being able to really communicate directly with people doing the exact same thing you are is very valuable,” she said. “There are all kinds of hospitals, big and small, rural, nonprofit, for-profit, community health access, etc., and we work to build an annual conference that is not just one size fits all.”

Dunnington received the Award of Distinction at the 2022 Association of Healthcare Administrative Professionals National Conference at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency on Oct. 4-6. When she is not at Mason Health, she works as a local realtor and serves on the Mason County Association of Realtors governance and diversity committees. She loves playing and watching baseball with her family, as well as hiking and gardening with her husband, Dave. She has three sons and three grandchildren.

Mason Health, Public Hospital District No. 1 of Mason County, is ISO 9001 Quality Management System certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and is a licensed and accredited acute care hospital with a level four emergency trauma designation. Mason General Hospital and Mason Clinic are ENERGY STAR® certified and Mason Health is the recipient of Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change Environmental Excellence Awards. There are more than 100 physicians on staff in 19 specialties. For more information or to find a health care provider, visit www.masongeneral.com. To learn more about DNV, visit www.dnv.com/healthcare.

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