After more than 50 years in healthcare, Elaine Bowman knows her way around a hospital. More importantly for patients on Swedish Ballard's Acute Care Unit, Elaine understands that the patient experience and process of healing continue outside the hospital walls.
As a case manager, Elaine is the expert at developing long-term solutions that move patients successfully, safely, and confidently into their next phases of care. She has cultivated a deep pool of resources throughout the community to ensure patients are provided with the right discharge plan for their needs. In turn, Elaine is a vital and trusted resource to colleagues across the Swedish Ballard system. Elaine's steady guidance and dogged work ethic allow patients to visualize life after hospitalization without fear. Elaine's innate ability to connect with patients comes from years of patient care experience.
While working toward her four-year nursing degree at the University of Mary which was founded in 1959 by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation and the only Catholic university in Bismark, ND, Elaine managed 20 patients as the evening nurse in one of the local hospital's medical-surgical units.
After graduating in 1966, Elaine accepted her first job as a Registered Nurse in Edmonds at Stevens Hospital. In 1968, Elaine became a staff nurse at Ballard Community Hospital. Fifty-two years later, she has served the Ballard community in nearly every capacity possible, from charge nurse to nursing supervisor, unit manager, infection control, quality improvement and finally as a case manager
Elaine says she has found her true passion as a case manager, a role in which she loves the unique challenges of each case and the ability to work with colleagues across the healthcare team.